Farewell My Love

Is this the final hour?  Darling, where did you go?  I sense something bad has happened to you and I can't reach you.  I can't touch you and I can't hug you.  We both knew this day would come but we never wanted to face it because we were too busy living, dreaming and hoping we would go on forever.  But we were running out of time and you knew it before I did with your statement "I'm on borrowed time here."  It was the first time you had ever said that to me in all the years I've loved you.  During happier times you would tell me "Who's going?  I'm not going anywhere," when I would broach the heavy subject of death.  You had also began to talk about the importance of Wills.  "What's all this talk about Wills," I would scold you.  "Remember you're not going anywhere."  Ours was a very special relationship from the beginning.  We developed a great friendship and found that we had much in common despite our different backgrounds.  You said you felt extremely comfortable with me and the same thing happened to me.  I know the exact moment I began to love you, it was when I noticed your special sensitiviy to animals so similar to my own.  It was when I realized you were the brightest, kindest man I ever met and also the classiest.  It was a forbidden relationship from the beginning but we drifted into it helplessly, sharing many wonderful, beautiful memories.  You made me happy and I made you happy, so we stole years of happiness, being extremely careful not to hurt anyone.  I spent last Wednesday crying and I didn't know why, I wasn't even thinking about you.  You'were having a procedure but I knew you'd be alright, you were always alright, worrying about everyone around you except yourself - a very strong, courageous person who never lost his vibrancy, even when the passing years left their mark physically and psychologically.  And now I sense this is truly the end of the road for us because after having been practically inseparable from the moment we met, you have disappeared without a word; and only the implacable hand of death could do that to us.  The most painful thing is that it came about so suddenly, so brutally, without time to tell you farewell my love, without time to tell you what you meant to me, but you always knew it and in your own words told me many times when I regretted not telling someone I lost that I loved them, "some things don't have to be said."  I am, however, thankful for small mercies.  You went while still active and brilliant, interested in world affairs and politics.  You went while you still loved life with a passion and filled your days with activities.  You went while you could still celebrate Thanksgiving in style, full of good cheer, food, friends, family and laughter.  You were supposed to have "little or no alcohol" but you always cheated.  You hated limitations and still wanted to experience that familiar buzz.  You were planning another glorious Christmas celebration and I'm really heartbroken you left us so close to your favorite holiday.  If you could have chosen your exit, you'd have never chosen this precious holiday - not only for yourself but for your family - you'd have been devastated to ruin it for your loved ones.  The passing years may have slowed you down but never marred your lust for life.  I'm going to be strong for you now my darling, because I know that's what you would want me to do.  But don't ask me not to mourn you, don't ask me to move on.  I can not mourn you publicly because the world will never understand, but I will mourn you secretly till the end of my life, the way I loved you for so many years.  You were the love of my life and I was yours.  We met late in life but at least we got to experience that elusive, much yearned for and sometimes never found "many splendoured thing."

ENOUGH!

Enough of monsters who kill innocent people.  Enough of trying to explain the unexplicable.  Enough of mothers who refuse to see reality and shelter these people.  Nancy Lanza only saw the intelligent side of this monster and battled the world for him.  He repaid her with bullets in the face while she slept.  This evil man was very, very sick from the beginning and should have been institutionalized or on medicine permanently, but Nancy saw the world as being wrong, not her so called "brilliant son."  She tried to bond with him by introducing him to arms and she paid the ultimate price but so did twenty innocent children and the courageous adults who tried to save them.  This man couldn't feel physical or emotional pain, he was already dead inside and the deadly rampage was a matter of time.  It's time to take action now.  Obama's reaction to the tragedy might be his finest hour, now it's time to act on it Mr. President.  Gun control is not going to work on this country, but you could demand that each school, each public place hire security personnel because nobody is safe in this society anymore.  It's time to face facts.  Shootings are happening in movie houses, in malls, and now in our most sacred place, schools.  Monsters like Lanza are aware of the vulnerability (he at least had the decency to kill himself - the monster in Norway didn't) but if there were armed guards at the doors, these monsters would never commit these atrocities, or at least they would be killed faster and that would minimize the damage.  We have to face reality here.  We need armed guards everywhere, supermarkets, drugstores, subways, any place where monsters like Lanza might take a notion to do the most damage.  I don't want to hear that there's no money for these measures, if we have enough money to send to Pakistan and Egypt (countries who are no friends of  ours), we should have enough money to protect our citizens here.  It's time to change our priorities and choose country and our beautiful children first.  It's time to get mad, it's time to shout outloud ENOUGH, ENOUGH, we're not going to take it anymore.  Mr. President, don't let this outrage fade, let's not go back to the past where we screamed and hollered for a week and then went back to normal, not this time, let's change the law once and for all.

Adios Jenni

Sabes?  No te conocia y me paso contigo lo que me ha pasado con Selena, te he descubierto despues de tu tragica muerte.  Pero te has ganado otra fanatica desde el mas alla.  Tu historia me ha tocado muy profundamente.  Eras una mujer heroica, perseverente, que luchaste en la vida contra viento y marea para llegar a lo que llegaste.  El destino te arrebato la vida en tu mejor momento, estabas en la plenitud de tu vida y a punto de cruzar a America.  Son esas ironias de la vida tan tristes e inexplicables.  Lo mismo le paso a la inolvidable Selena a mucha mas temprana edad.  Me encanto tu musica y comprare tus discos.  Se que fuiste una mujer alegre, fuerte y muy apasionada que vivio intensamente.  Habias presentido tu muerte y dejaste dicho lo que querias que se haga en esa bella cancion que le dejaste al mundo, querias una fiesta enorme en la playa donde naciste, una festejacion de tu vida, una celebracion llena de dicha y eso se debia hacer, porque asi vivias tu vida, a pesar de todas las tragedias que te toco soportar.  Tenias tu arte y ese era tu refugio, un arte que compartiste con el mundo muy generosamente dando a otros felicidad.  Gracias Jenni, dejaste huellas muy grandes en el universo y no te vamos a olvidar.

Kate's Extraordinary Fame Claims First Victim

By now I guess everyone knows that Jacintha Saldanha, the Indian nurse at the hospital Kate was admitted with severe morning sickness, killed herself because she couldn't live with the disgrace she thought she brought to the hospital by patching the call through to the two Australian pranksters who just wanted to have some fun.  Not to defend them or anything but I don't think that they thought their actions would lead to a suicide in a billion years.  The fact that nothing particularly intimate was divulged other than "She's resting comfortably and had a good night" seems irrelevant in this case due to the tragic reaction of the nurse who obviously had a very tenuous hold on life.  The roots of her self destruction had to have been in her character or she would have never done such a thing over such an insignificant, harmless thing.  She was probably a perfectionist who took a lot of pride in  her performance and her own worst enemy, so she built the whole thing in her mind as a catastrophe, a national disgrace, and was forced to do something about it thinking only of her shame and mortification and not of the husband and children she was leaving behind. This is extremely sad to say the least and Kate must be seeing the harrowing costs of her extraordinary fame very closely indeed.  This is after all, the same fame that destroyed Princess Diana, haunting her from the very beginning of her marriage and ultimately killing her.  We all would like to be a face in the crowd but this kind of fame is destructive, it's overwhelming, and as we see with this tragedy, it can be deadly.  And although Kate has the love and support of her husband (something the lovely Diana didn't) she should thread very, very carefully.

Elmo, Say it Isn't So

One of the saddest things I recently heard was the scandal involving Elmo's puppeteer, Kevin Clash.  All the characters in Sesame Street are pretty special but Elmo captured my daughter's heart and mine twenty five years ago when she was five years old and I began to watch the show for her sake.  His sweet, distinctive and innocent voice was an immediate hit with my special child, and although I heard he taped episodes till the year 2014, Sesame Street will never be the same without Kevin Clash.  The show may go on with another puppeteer as Elmo but there was only one original and I'm afraid our beloved Elmo will eventually have to fade out into the sunset, same as his now beleaguered owner.  Are the allegations true?  Is Kevin Clash a victim of fame?  Why are these people coming out of the woodwork now?  Whatever he did or didn't do, Kevin Clash created a legend, an unforgettable character and for that we should be grateful.  This was a man who obviously loved his work and this has to be devastating to him.  Human beings are complex and maybe he had a dark side, a shameful secret, it's sad but that doesn't take away his contribution.  He made millions of children happy throughout the world, he brought us magic, that part can't not be tarnished, so let's not judge him too harshly.

The Tragic Aftermath of Sandy

Monster storm Sandy decided to hit New York with a vengeance.  Not since 9/11 did we feel the same sense of tragedy, vulnerability and despair.  Even if you were lucky enough not to lose power or get flooded, you didn't escape unscathed.  Images of others suffering and mourning great losses was enough to tug at your heartstrings, to say nothing of witnessing the nightmarish lines for gas that still seem to go on forever.  I lost power for eight days and walked around feeling sorry for myself, but my discomfort and misery was nothing compared to that of those who lost everything.  Yet I discovered something about myself.  Misery does not love company.  When you're suffering, you don't want to hear that someone else has it worse.  You want validation for your feelings at the moment.  Later on, when the immediate misery ends and you have more perspective, you feel a sense of gratitude that it wasn't worse for you.  You feel ashamed that you were such a baby, and guilty for saying "Thank God it wasn't me."  But the fact remains that nature proved once more that it could turn anywhere, anytime and shatter our lives temporarily or permanently.  It could kill us mercilessly and take all the comforts we fill our lives with with one swift stroke.  When I first heard the wind, I was laying in bed with the covers over my head and felt afraid the windows would shatter with the impact of the devastating winds, but what struck me most of all was that the wind sounded like a lament, a long, mournful lament, as if already regretting the destruction it would leave in its wake.  This almost grotesque singsong seemed to go on forever filling me with fright and at the same time with a morbid fascination.  It was the cry of death and destruction approaching its victims.  It was our 9/11 of natural disasters and it will scar us forever because there are tragic events in life that you simply never get over.

The Real Loss on Tuesday

Mitt Romney lost the election on Tuesday and all his supporters are hurting but the country lost more, a lot more.  The country lost the opportunity of having a real leader in the White House.  A leader who loves America and wanted to restore it to its rightful place in the world.  A leader who allowed himself to be put through the meat grinder from the beginning because he knew he could make a difference, because he saw the way the country was heading and wanted to stop it before it was too late.  He was denied that opportunity and America is the real loser.  Mitt Romney ran a courageous, magnificent campaign, and he would have made a great president, a president who would honor the White House and not use it to create class warfare, a leader who would restore the respect we have lost throughout the world because of Mr. Obama and his misguided policies.  He showed a lot of class and dignity from beginning to end and he will be sorely missed.  So with a heavy heart, it's time to say farewell to you gallant warrier, we shall miss you.  We caught a glimpse of your soul during the campaign and this makes this loss all the more painful and devastating to us.

The Last Debate

I thought Mitt Romney won on the last debate.  He was serene, presidential and respectuful; in sharp contrast to Mr. Obama who exuded desperation with senseless attacks that I don't think will make much difference over the final result.  I don't think Americans will choose a disrespectful, sardonic attack dog over a seasoned, experienced candidate who can really make a difference in their lives, because with Mr. Obama's dismal record, there is no debating that Mr. Romney is the right man at the right time.  I don't think this is a game of who can attack more or demolish his challenger more effectively, but who has more to offer the country at this crucial time in our history, and Mr. Romney's vast experience has proven that he is the man for the job.  Mr. Obama tried to defend his record vigorously, but it is frankly indefensible, and any intelligent viewer will see right through the great demagoguery, which Mr. Obama seems to be quite the expert at.  It worked for you once Mr. Obama, but it won't work today.  We gave you a chance, elected you with so much warmth and even joy, and as the cliche says, "you blew it."  You chose other countries over America, you wasted no opportunities to downgrade and criticize your own land.  I could go on and on with lots of examples, but suffice to say that you hurt the country who elected you with so much goodwill and affection. 

I thought Mr. Romney missed a great opportunity to go after Mr. Obama's disastrous handling of Libya, which was frankly the elephant in the room, but he may have decided to take the high road and I only hope and pray it works for him and for our country.  Mr. Romney is the true patriot here, and he has demonstrated that by the way he's lived his life, but unfortunately Mr. Obama isn't.  Let's look at his deeds, not his words, and let's choose our country first.  It's time to let him go.

A Political Star is Born

Mitt Romney was simply electrifying on the first presidential debate.  He showed passion, convinction and a great wealth of knowledge.  In my opinion, he was magnificent.  In one single, great performance he managed to destroy all the outrageous myths, lies and innuendos that have marred his campaign.  What we saw out there wasn't the cold-hearted, rich, out of touch entrepreneur who only cares about the rich, but a man with a purpose.  A man committed to restoring America to its rightful place in the world.  A man committed to saving America from sliding headlong into socialism. A patriotic man who wants to take on the hardest job in the world, not out of vanity, but because he knows he can make a difference, and out of a sense of duty.  If anybody doubted that he's got what it takes, should have no more doubts after that brilliant debate.  Mr. Romney is uniquely qualified to lead the country in this hour of need.  This is his time and I hope his destiny, but will the country do the right thing and elect him?  I passionately hope so because if we don't, America will be the loser.

Goodbye Sweet Andy

I was a very young girl when I first heard his signature song "Moon River" and fell in love with his soft, melodious voice, same as the rest of America and the world.  He was so easy to like, the soothing, romantic and marvelous voice and the handsome, charming appearance that went with it.  He was also a man of character and integrity as we all found out when he courageously stood by his ex wife, Claudine Longet, during the famous murder trial in Colorado.  He seemed to be a happy man who was having an affair with life most of the time, but I'm sure he endured his share of grief and disappointments.  Still, he knew he was given a gift with that marvelous voice of his and was grateful for it.  He was a gentle soul and I'm very sad his last year on earth was so sad.  But unfortunately we don't get to choose the date or manner of our demise.  He's in the embrace of his Maker now and his romantic music lives on in the hearts of all of us who grew up with his music and are thinking of him today.

The Haunting Death and double victimization of Chris Stevens

The details are so horrific, I wonder how his family can stand knowing about them without being torn apart inside.  This wonderful man was tortured and violated in the vilest way but what's even more devastating is our reaction to this horrendous crime.  Where is the outrage?  Where is grief over losing an American representative in this atrocious manner?  The whole country should have been talking about this instead of Romney's so called gaffes, but I guess that was more important to the shameless, biased, and frankly grotesque media who only have one agenda and that is to re-elect Mr. Obama come hell or high water.  Mr. Stevens and the other American heroes endured martyrdoom for nothing.  They were abandoned to their fates and left without protection whatsoever in one of the most dangerous and volatile countries in the world despite voicing their fears that the terrorists had been sending them threats for over a week.  And they were victimized again by us with our mute reactions to the killings.  It was easier to blame it on a video, to apologize to the terrorists repeatedly, and to go on with business as usual.  Where is the justice for our citizens?  Where is the punishment for their killers?  Are they laughing at us in their den of snakes and planning other spectacular killings?  You bet they are and who could blame them when they have us cowered and apologizing for our existence?  Has Libya even been told that all monies will be stopped till the killers are brought to justice?  Has Egypt, who has all but declared itself an enemy of ours, paid any price whatsoever?  Has the President addressed the nation in this hour of grief?  Or was he simply too busy to bother?  Insulting the sovereignty of the nation is an act of war yet we were the ones apologizing for a video that had nothing to do with their murderous rage.  Mr. Stevens and the other American heroes will continue to haunt this nation for a very long time to come because we failed them miserably, but most of all we failed ourselves, and that's our shame and punishment.

The Price of Bravery

The horrendous, senseless murder of our U.S. Embassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other innocent victims, by an incensed mob, really brings home to us the dangerous world we live in.  That this tragic man, who really loved Libya and tried to so hard to help the country get ahead, should be so brutally murdered, is the ultimate irony.  My question is, why didn't the host country protect him better?  Why did they allow the vicious murderers to scale the wall and set fire to the embassy?  The details of his death are still sketchy, some sources have him dying of smoke inhalation in the embassy while others have him being assaulted and suffocated in his car while trying to help evacuate others, but regardless of how he died, one thing is certain, and that is that this courageous man died in terror, trapped by evil forces he could not comprehend nor control just like the victims of September 11 in our country.  His barbaric, untimely death shows us very clearly that the country we liberated and sacrificed so much for has a long way to go.  If people can rise up and murder others so freely, then nobody is safe in Libya or anywhere in the Middle East for that matter.  Egypt is another example of extremism and brutality, with the radicals gaining more and more ground daily as could be seen by the attacks on our Embassy there.  The Libyan Government has vowed to bring the murderers to justice in Libya, but that's a laugh.  Do they even know who they are?  Or were they too scared to interfere and take notice to begin with?  Perhaps this is the time to revaluate our relationship with Libya and Egypt.  Perhaps this is the time to get out of these countries and stop our help to them all together.  Perhaps this is the time to come to terms with the fact that we have to put our beleaguered country first - we are not going to change the course of history - the events in Syria ought to demonstrate that to us.  And our first and most sacred obligation should be to our citizens and our country.  People should not be allowed to kill our embassadors and burn our embassies with impunity, and since we can not go to war with Libya and Egypt, we should get out and leave them to their fates.  Let this horrific renaissance of terror in the Middle East burn itself out.  Let's get out of Afghanistan at once too and stop wasting American lives and dollars, we're only sitting ducks there for the terrorists who are spreading daily like a cancer.

The Unnecessary Fuss About Clint Eastwood

Why are people making such a fuss about Clint Eastwood's performance at the closing of the Republic Convention?  Why are they picking on this wonderful movie icon and ridiculing him?  Could it be that he hit a little too close to home?  I thought he was charming, amusing and different and that he brought his point across very well.  The chair was symbolic and it should not be taken literally.  The chair could represent many things including "an empty suit," and we all know what that means.  They're making fun of his line "go ahead, make my day" when it was very appropriate to the occasion.  He meant "make my day" by electing Mitt Romney.  I'm glad Ben Aflleck was the only one in Hollywood who had the sense to defend him.  I'm sure Mr. Eastwood couldn't care less about the actors, comedians, twitters or bloggers of the world who are piling up on him now because he knows what he is and what he did.  He stood up alone and away from the liberals of Hollywood in that stage and basically said "if something ain't working you fix it" and that took guts because unfortunately this brave performance of his will be his epitaph in this society, the media will see to that, distorting everything the way they are now.  I keep hearing "bizarre" to describe his performance, but what's "bizarre" about it is the overreaction to it.

Mother Courage

Before last night's Republican convention, most of us knew little of substance about Ann Romney.  Sure she made a dream marriage with a gorgeous hunk (and nobody can deny that Mitt is a dream boat), sure she had five wonderful sons, but we really didn't know her.  She seemed to us just another lucky, privileged wife leading a great life, the life of the rich and famous.  That she was lucky and blessed to  have picked the right man when she was just a young girl, is indisputable, but so was Mitt, for last night I saw in her a woman of substance, a courageous person who seems to be the ideal partner for him.  She led a charmed life?  Think again.  She was struck with two horrible illnesses at the prime of her life.  MS is a capricious, devastating disease and no matter how long a person is in remission, it could always come back with great force.  People who have MS never take a single day of good health for granted, they have to live with the constant fear of ending up in a wheelchair or going blind.  The same goes for the much dreaded breast cancer, because everyone knows that no matter how early they catch it, it can always come back.  Sure he has a husband who'll be with her till the end of her life and obviously adores her (while others less blessed than her have to face these horrible diseases alone) but she's still a courageous woman.  A woman who has decided to face these horrible diseases head on and who will do much for their research if she ever gets to the White House.  She painted her husband as a strong, effective and generous man of "great moral convinction and integrity" and I suspected as much by the way he has led his life and has stood by his wife.

The Mysterious Death of a Musical Giant.

The world was shocked by the sudden, mysterious death of Marvin Hamlisch, the reason is because according to the family "he dropped death after a brief illness," a theory that strikes terror at the heart of everyone.  Did he have a heart attack?  A stroke?  A fulminant kind of cancer?  People just don't drop death out of the blue.  I understand they may want to guard their privacy, but by withholding the real reason, they are only fueling more  and more speculation.  He was only sixty eight years old and in seemingly good health, looking forward to composing more and more hits and contributing more and more to the world.  A man like that just doesn't drop death overnight.  It's a shame because instead of focussing on the huge loss his death represents, most of us are focussing on the mysterious circumstances.  He was a public figure, he belonged to us and I think we are entitled to know what he died of so we can mourn him properly.

Tony Curtis - Death of A fine, Underrated Actor

Why didn't Tony Curtis ever win an Academy Award?  He was a wonderful actor and a natural comedian but he never really got the credit he deserved.  I think Hollywood typast him as a "pretty face" early on in his career and he was never able to escape the label despite wonderful performances.  Sure he was a pretty face, one of the prettiest faces in the business but he was so much more than that.  He was a truly creative man and he proved that in the latter part of his career by becoming a talented painter.  Looking at his movies today you can see how much he invested emotionally in outstanding performances such as "Spartacus," "Houdini," "Trapeze," " "The Defiant Ones," "Some Like it Hot", "Sweet Smell of Success," and so many others.  His crowning achievement as an actor in my opinion was, of course, "The Boston Strangler," and it's an outrage that he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar for that astonishing performance where the beautiful Tony Curtis face all but disappeared to give birth to the tortured murderer Albert de Salvo.  I always felt that despite his financial success, audience adoration, many wives, affairs, children and drug and alcohol battles, he never really escaped the pain of his childhood .  I think he drew on that pain to give his best performances.  Farewell Tony and thanks for the memories.

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The Psychological Aches of Aging

We all know the physical aches of aging, that furtive process that seems to sneak up on you almost overnight.  But what about the psychological aches of aging?  What about coming to terms with the fact that your best years are already behind you?  That's a lot harder to deal with and to accept.  With people living a lot longer today you'd think that middle age would be easier, healthier.  We know so much more than our parents did.  We exercised our whole lives, we ate right and lived right so we should be able to make the transition a lot easier, shouldn't we?  Think again.  You feel more emotionally and physically vunerable.  You have less energy, you experience sleep disturbances for no reason at all.  Your eating and sleeping patterns also change.  You develop acid reflux for the slightest reasons so you can no longer eat to your heart's content, and no matter how strong or active you were in your youth, you become fragile.  You find yourself getting up several times a night and wake up with circles under your eyes.  You cry more easily and you begin to deal with your mortality almost on a daily basis.  Thoughts of dying and disappearing are suddenly very real and you want to leave something behind, something you will remembered by other than your next of kin and children.  The truth is you want to go on, life is a bittersweet affair but you love it, and you treasure it more and more in your later years.  But the mourning of your lost youth is very real and it goes on for a long time.  You ask yourself "how did this happen?"  How did I get here without even noticing it?  Where did those golden years go?  And believe me those were really the golden years.  The truth is that it was never easy, it was always painful because growing up is painful but you had a lot of time then, time to grow, love, learn and  make mistakes.  Now time has become your enemy and you're very aware of the brevity of life.  What to do?  How to adjust to this new reality?  I wish I knew.  I'm still struggling with it and mourning my lost youth.  Peace and acceptance will come I'm sure but it will take a long time and by then I'll have to meet new challenges.

Why Marilyn is still relevant today

She had the face of an angel, the body of a goddess and the soul of an artist, but those aren't the only attributes that made Marilyn one of the immortals of the world.  It was much, much more.  Some of the things were her relentless ambition, her courageous, almost ferocious climb to the top of the business despite her miserable circumstances.  And her long, painful struggle to be taken seriously touched all of us, even her detractors.  You couldn't help but admire her desperate need to better herself, to become a good actress, to matter, to leave something of substance behind.  She yearned for recognition and not as the world's greatest sex symbol but as an actress of value.  The tragedy of her life is that she became just that but she never knew it.  She died thinking we thought of her as a joke, a sexual thing.  Fifty years after her death we finally recognize what a good actress she was - this vulnerable, much maligned actress who has become a legend.  Would nominating her for the Oscar she so richly deserved for "Bus Stop" have saved her life?  Nobody can say but it would have given her infinite joy, some of the joy she gave others throughout her brief career.  She paid a high price for immortality but immortality she achieved.  The world will never stop talking, worshipping and remembering Marilyn Monroe and she will continue being discovered by future generations to come when we are all gone.  Perhaps that was her real mission in life, this magical actress the likes of which we have never seen again and probably never will.

The London Olympics Opening Ceremony

I don't know how most of you feel about it but I thought the London Opening Ceremony paled in comparison to the Beijing Ceremony.  Now I admit that Beijing was a tough act to follow but can't help but think that London didn't even try very hard to match it.  Perhaps realizing that it was futile to top or equal the splendor of the Beijing ceremony they settled for a mish mash of everything British that was at times quite silly and downright boring.  I endured it for two hours and realizing that I wasn't going to miss anything too special or grand, turned it off and went to sleep, didn't even feel like taping it certain that I had gotten the gyst of it and didn't much care for it. Judging from the mixed comments I saw today, it doesn't look like I missed anything spectacular.

The Tragedy of Madness.

By now everyone must have heard the horrific massacre at the movie theater in Colorado.  Twelve dead in cold blood and more than fifty wounded but I suspect the dead toll will continue to rise.  And why?  Because a once brilliant, promising student plunged into the dark world of madness and nobody saw it coming.  We try to protect ourselves from overt terrorism at the airport with scanning machines and secret service agents but how do we protect ourselves from the madness within our shores?  How do we protect ourselves from a man bent on destruction and self destruction?  This man was an American citizen, by all accounts what we classify as a "winner" yet now he joins the ranks of the many monsters that preceded him.  If  his parents saw the signs of his mental deterioration, shame on them for not doing something about it before it was too late.  Now they'll have to live with the blood of the innocent, fun loving victims on their hands.  And as for us, just another horrific example of the madness all around us we have to live with.  Just another horrific example of the fragility of our lives.  A madman or a terrorist can invade our subways, our stores, our supermarkets, our gyms or anywhere were a lot of people gather and carry out his monstrous deed.  He has nothing more to lose because he's already lost his soul so his goal is to take as many people with him as possible.  I suspect that in the dark world Mr. Holmes has retreated to, he feels like a hero today.  The man who once tried to be a great healer had successfuly made the switch to a great destroyer.  I suspect this man always had megalomaniac tendencies and it was only a matter of time before madness overtook him.  What will happen to him now?  Unfortunately nothing much.  He'll probably spend the rest of his sorry days in a mental institution, drugged out of his mind and pacing with all the other lost souls of the world.  He will never confront the horror of his actions.  He'll never think of the people he ambushed and murdered in cold blood or the ones he wounded and perhaps blinded or paralized for life.  We have the torment, because every time a horrific thing like this happens, we lose a little bit of ourselves.

Goodbye Ernie

A great actor has died, and make no mistake about it because Ernest Borgnine was a great actor.  During his long, spectacular career, he gifted us with many outstanding performances.  He will be forever remembered for his breakthrough performance as the lonely, lovelorn butcher in Marty, of course, but this fiery actor proved himself with many great performances long before that.  Sure he was typecast as the heavy in most of those movies but his performances were great nonetheless.  He acted with such power, such magnetism, putting the different sides of his personality in each and every film, that when he came on the screen we were mesmerized.  He was a star and an actor, and we were lucky to have him doing what he loved to do for so long.  I honored him by watching some of  his movies when I got the news and that's where he'll live forever, on the screen, for the enjoyment of generation after generation.

Merci et Bon Voyage Nora Ephron

I was shocked by the news of gifted, witty, wonderful Nora Ephron's untimely death.  She had a unique voice and manner that was both romantic, hilarious and extremely perceptive.  Her accomplishments were many but to me her masterpiece will always be the marvelous, scintillating "When Sally Met Harry," and I honored her yesterday by watching that comedy which is still one of my favorites.  A writer always reveals her true self in her work and I saw in her a woman deeply aware of her mortality who was living her life with lots of joy, passion and humor, making each day count and urging us to embrace the moment and live as intensely as she did.  Who can forget the moment when Sally raises her pretty eyebrows and tells Harry, "Why, I'm glad to see that you're actually embracing life in this manner, Harry," when he divulges that he's getting married?  Who can forget the last scene in the movie when Harry realizes he's always loved Sally and runs to tell her?  Beneath that sharp, razor like wit hid an incurable romantic, a woman who viewed her life as the fantastic adventure that it really was.  She left a rich legacy of work because hers was a life well lived but unfortunately it was cut too short, and she fought a long, courageous battle at the end of her life.  Let's learn from her now and remember her with humor, gratitude and laughter.  Adieu Nora.

A Grim Anniversary

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Father's day and it's hard to believe that today is the somber anniversary of the Medford Killings that shocked New York, the country and the world.  A crime so heinous that we still can't get over it.  The fact that four innocent victims lost their lives in such a senseless manner will always haunt us on this day, and this date of joy and celebration will be forever marred by the tragedy in New York.  I can't speak for the other relatives, but I know the Fergusons personally and they have put the tragedy behind them.  Faced with the ultimate tragedy, they have chosen life over death.  They have chosen to honor the memory of their beloved son by going on with their lives, as he, with his generous spirit, would have wanted them to.  They have assimilated the loss with grace and dignity, gathering strength and fortitude from each other.  Raymond Ferguson would have expected nothing less from them.

Goodbye Mr. New Year's Eve

It's hard to believe Dick Clark is gone. He had many accomplishments in his illustrious career but to me he will always be Mr. New Year's Eve. For decades, he was a steady fixture welcoming the New Year in style at Times Square, and it gave us all a sense of continuity, almost of immortality that somehow some things never die. Dick Clark stood there year after year in all kinds of weather for us, and truly seemed to relish in his role as the perpetual "bon vivant" of New York. He was smooth, likable and a big part of our lives. Whether we watched him on television or braved the crowds to see him in person, he was an indelible image out there in the biggest party of the world. New Year's Eve will never be the same without him. He will be sorely missed and I can't imagine anyone else taking his place. So let's raise our Dom Perignon champagne glasses (because for him nothing else will do) in a great toast To Mr. New Year's Eve. May he have a great trip.

Thank You Readers

My sales just hit their first milestone. I sold 300 hundred copies in March and I'm very happy. I treasure and appreciate each and every sale because I know you've got a zillion choices out there, so the fact that you picked my books is very rewarding. For all bird lovers, I hope you like the sweet and tender true story of my unforgettable birds "Jill & Mickey."
For memoir lovers, I hope you like "Beyond the Snows of the Andes," and "A Different Journey." I'm currently working on a novel and I'm very excited, the fact that you're buying my books has given me wings. Once again, thank you, thank you, merci beacoup, gracias, grazie mille, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Jill-Mickey-ebook/dp/B007I4Y674
http://www.amazon.com/A-Different-Journey-ebook/dp/B005J6JGOG
http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Snows-Andes-ebook/dp/B004MDLV0O

A City Without Pity

The horrific torture and death of a pretty eighteen year old Ukrainian girl has shocked the world, and it's a world that doesn't shock easily. Oksana Makar, finally and mercifully died three weeks after being found half strangled, raped, tortured, set on fire and thrown out like so much garbage into a building pit by three sadists who lured her to an apartment with evil in mind. Even after learning all that some local women blamed the victim saying "she was just a loose girl." And all because she met two of the monsters in a bar and agreed to follow them to an apartment. And all because she was young and pretty and wanted to live a little and have a little fun. Her death is a powerful indictment on a city famous for its corruption, for allowing the rich to literally get away with murder. It's an indictment on a country famous for its lack of respect for women. A country where the rich and well connected reign supreme and make their own laws. The tragedy of her life and death now shines a light into that travesty, and the world will be watching very closely to see if these three monsters get punished no matter how influential they are. But let us not forget that these three hateful characters are nothing but a product of a sick society, a society that taught them to disrespect women and treat them like dirt from an early age because women are expendable and only men are valuable.

Meltdown on the Air

So it finally happened, a pilot had an spectacular breakdown in mid air. It took many people to restrain him because he was completely out of it and yelling incoherencies. It must have been terrifying to be on that JetBlue plane and be witness to such a sad, frightening event. My guess is that he was under tremendous pressure for a long time and he finally snapped. He might have been holding it in till he couldn't hold it anymore. He obviously needs help and JetBlue should first investigate the real cause of his breakdown before proceeding to file charges against him. Let's not forget that pilots are only human and with the monster hours most of them are forced to put, I'm surprised we don't get more tragic incidents such as this. My thoughts and prayers are with him.

Of Human Mendacity

The story in the Post about the Queens couple who used and abused a disabled fifty eight year old woman really killed me. They took her out of her assisted living facility and took her into hell, a hell of beatings with inhuman psychological and physical abuse which would have surely ended in death if her niece hadn't finally realized something was wrong. What's clear is that this poor woman was desperately alone and in need of company, so she fell prey to these monsters who forced her to give them power of attorney and were robbing her blind. They should be punished to the full extent of the law for their brutality and mendacity, these human leeches she probably befriended out of loneliness who saw her need for tenderness and human companionship and fully took advantage of it. I don't know the circumstances with her niece or the kind of relationship they had, but one should never abandon a person. We are in this world to help each other, to show compassion and mercy. I know we all lead extremely busy lives but we should always make time for those less fortunate, it's what makes us human, what gives meaning to our lives, caring for others, making time for them before it's too late. Thank God this poor woman was found alive, but the scars of her ordeal will take a long time to heal, if they ever do, and all because of greed and unbelievable cruelty.

Remembering Marilyn

I finally saw "My Week with Marilyn." I had resisted watching this film because I couldn't see Michelle Williams as Marilyn, but boy, was I surprised. Never mind that she's a lot shorter, not at all voluptuous or overtly sensual like the unforgettable Marilyn. She got into the character's skin and very adeptly pulled it off. She captured her innocence, confusion and painful insecurities. She captured her softness and radiant beauty. She captured her melancholy and uniqueness; the strange mixture of pathos and greatness that made her unforgettable. Michelle Williams is a great actress and she did her character justice. Marilyn would have approved of her performance for she brought her back to life with lots of love and compassion.

The Oldest Profession

With the oldest profession in the news again, maybe it's time to take a second look at it and come to terms with the fact that prostitution is here to stay. It has been with us from the beginning of times and it will continue being with us till the end of times. So why then this reluctance to make it legal once and for all? Why can the government have legal places for this sort of thing the way they do in Europe? Why can't the women and their madams pay taxes like everyone else? It's a never ending cycle of catching them and jailing them for a while till the scandal dies down and new ones take their place. The truth is that there's a very lucrative market for it and while there's a market for it more and more people will enter into it for different reasons, some will do it out of necessity and others simply because they like sex with different men and want to profit from it. But regardless of how it comes about, prostitution is here to stay and we should just admit it and get it over with. The whole thing is a charade and a joke anyway, so stop persecuting these women and force them instead to pay their fare share of taxes.

The Price of Hubris

The story of the fight between the Morgan Stanley banker and the New York cabbie has been in the papers for two days now. The big shot banker claims the cabbie tried to rob him by inflating the fare from $200 to almost $300. The cabbie claims that was the agreed upon price and that the banker refused to pay it once he got to his mansion in Connecticut. What is clear is that the fight got pretty uggly and the banker stabbed the cabbie in the hand with a penknife when the outraged cabbie started driving him back to the city. What I want to know is why didn't this executive take a company car? These guys can take limousines for crying outloud and they do it all the time. But putting all that aside, why didn't he just pay the fare and complained about the cabbie later? That would have been the smart, sensible thing to do and he's supposed to be the superior intellect here. Yet he showed unbelievable lack of self control and tact by fighting with the cabbie like a fishwife, and by assaulting him with a weapon. The reason for this is simply "hubris." He was the big shot and the other guy only a "lowly cabbie." "How dared he butt heads with me like an equal?" "This worm I could stamp under my feet?" The truth is that the banker showed his dark side and it wasn't a pretty one. Being used to a world where all his needs are fulfilled right away, where underlings do his bidding with no questions asked, he was challenged by the lowest of the low and he simply couldn't take it so he snapped, embarrassing the high brow company he works for, earning himself a a nice little suspension, to say nothing of a terrible reputation, and that might be just the beginning. I suspect that little wild episode is going to cost him plenty, might even lose him his job, as Morgan Stanley does not like this kind of publicity and the cabbie will end up with a nice chunk of change. Lesson learned here? Treat everybody the way you want to be treated. It doesn't matter what you do or how big you get, we're all equal human beings on this earth, and we all deserve respect for what we do for a living.

Death of a Heroic Man

I read a touching, heartbreaking story in the New York Post yesterday. An eighty five year old man and his forty six year old mentally handicapped son, were both found dead in the apartment. The elderly man died of natural causes and they are saying his dependent son died of "neglect." I think it's quite clear that the son died of a broken heart, unable to comprehend why his best friend, his lifeline to the world, was not there to take care of him first thing in the morning. He may have vainly tried to wake him, to bring him back for hours and unable to do so, might have cried and carried on for hours. I think he was unable to process the loss mentally, but emotionally he did, he knew he had lost everything and his heart gave out. Grief killed him, not neglect. One can live without food and water for a long time, but a broken heart has been known to kill very effectively time and time again. In a perfect world, it should have happened the other way around, the old man who was a great father and a wonderful person, should have said goodbye first, but we don't live in a perfect world and at the end his son wasn't spared. Yet as sad as this story is, it's also what the heroic father would have wanted, for his son to follow him right away so he would never have to be just another faceless number in an institution. He loved his son with all his heart and his son loved him. He would have died a slow death in an institution, instead he is now with his father, together for eternity, so sometimes the fates are actually kind. May God bless them both.

Looks like Curtains for Hugo Chavez

Let's face it,the fiery, clownish Venezuelan leader is dying. His aggressive cancer hasn't been stopped and seems to be taking over his body. He gambled with his life by going to Cuba for treatment and he lost the gamble. His love for Cuba and Fidel Castro has blinded him to the reality of that country for decades, and when he got sick, at the most crucial hour of his life, by placing himself in their hands, he only succeeded in shortening his life. He hates the U.S. and would rather die than be treated here but he could have gone to Europe, he could have afforded the best care in the world, and he could have bought himself more time. Instead he entrusted himself to Cuba, refusing to see that he could only get substandard medical care there because Cuba is a poor country and they simply can't afford the latest technology. And now it's only a matter of months, his idol Fidel Castro will surely outlive him and grant him all the honors their life long relationship does require. What will happen to Venezuela after he's gone? Will democracy rise again or is it already too late? It will be interesting to see if his untimely death will finally liberate the contry he almost single-handedly destroyed.

Crime in Bolivia

There is an article in the Huffington Post that crime is growing in Bolivia, and that criminals are now using the popular mini buses people use for everything under the sun as weapons for murder. Right now these criminals are operating mainly out of El Alto, one of the poorest neighborhood in La Paz, Bolivia, but they could move down to the city real soon as more and more people in El Alto become aware of their perfidy. The way they operate is by picking up passengers, charging them their fare and then murdering them for their wallets, credit cards, etc. The article more or less blames poverty for the rise in crime but the real truth is that "The Shining Path criminals from Peru" ("Sendero Luminoso") are responsible for all the horrific crimes that are happening in Bolivia. When Peru cracked down, they fled to Bolivia in droves and have been thriving there ever since, teaching the natives to rob, kill and assault with impunity. Crime in Bolivia before this human vermin fled to our country was practically non existent. The natives were passive and accepting of their circumstances. Now they have learned from the masters and the result is that Bolivia has become very dangerous, with corruption reaching policemen and other members of government. Unfortunately the administration of Evo Morales is soft in crime and long in incompetence so most of these criminals are never caught, but let's put the blame where it really belongs, with the Shining Path criminals, this virulent, malignant group that once terrorized Peru, and let's not blame poverty. Let's put the blame on the administration of Evo Morales for not cracking down and allowing them to flourish, and let's not blame poverty because before the scourge of the Shining Path infiltrated our poor country, Bolivia lived with its poverty without killing anybody.

The High Cost of a Mild Winter

We're probably experiencing the mildest winter ever here in the East and though that may be a good thing in terms of energy costs and not having to deal with the hardships of snow and ice, it's not a good thing in terms of good health. I have never been sicker in my life. I had "hay fever" for the whole month of January and it came with blinding headaches, runny nose and frequent sneezing. And as if that weren't bad enough, in February I developed the meanest, most virulent cold I ever had in my life. It came with an awful sore throat that made me want to scream when I first swallowed in the morning, sending me running to the doctor. He examined me and said "you're suffering from a very bad cold, half of the neighborhood is in my office with this thing because the germs are thriving in this weather and there's nothing to kill them, so don't feel bad because you're not alone." He said to try keeping bed rest and hot liquids for three days and if I felt no improvement by the fourth day to take antibiotics. Unfortunately my throat was better on the fourth day and my voice came back so I assumed I was feeling better but the cold had gone to my chest and I developed bronchitis for the first time in my life, so I quickly filled the antibiotics just a day late, and now I'm hopefully on the mend. But this bout of ill health has thought me a lesson. I will never again complain about the cold, snow and ice, in fact I will welcome a rough winter, because that's the normal course of events, having spring in February is not normal and there's a high price to take.

The flak over Whitney's media coverage

I can't believe the comments from a certain Bill O'Reilly and others like him that we are over glorifying Whitney Houston when she actually killed herself by years of drug abuse and a dissipated existence. Wrong Mr. O'Reilly, we're not celebrating her drug abuse, her disastrous marriage and sending the wrong message as you have openly said on public television. We're celebrating the gift of her voice which made so many people happy. We're celebrating her incredible talent, the fact that her powerful, jubilant voice moved millions all over the world for nearly two decades before her tragic downfall. She was our Edith Piaf, our Billie Holiday and we adored her, so now in death we're taking the full measure of the woman and letting her go in style, the way she deserves. Never mind that she had her demons, that she plunged into darkness with the same velocity with which she rose to fame, that's irrelevant and she paid dearly for her mistakes. But when all is said and done, it's about the music she left us with, that's what the world is honoring this week. Kudos to Chris Christie for recognizing that, I take my hat off to him for having the guts to face criticism from folks like you. And as for you, and others like you, begrudging this tragic woman her rightful place in our world, all I've got to say is open your mind a little bit, don't look at just the surface of things, go deeper and you'll live a happier, fuller life.

The disappointing Grammy Awards

The greatest pop diva of the twentieth century dies and the parties do go on as though nothing of consequence had occurred. The Grammy Awards ceremony was extremely disappointing and shallow. The best part came at the beginning when we saw a snipet of Whitney singing. After that it was downhill all the way, the stupid jokes, the rushed prayers, the uncomfortable allusions, and finally the emotional rendition by Jennifer Hudson which was a case of "too little too late." They should have skipped all the stupid singing and dancing, give out their awards and concentrate on Whitney because the night belonged to her. They should have shown her videos when she was on top and her beautiful voice was unequalled in the world, but no, they went on with their show and on with their party while she laid dead in the hotel. It wasn't only ghoulish, it was disrespectful and inexcusable. Had she fallen so low that they no longer cared that she was once shone brighter than any of them? Her talent was so great that none of the performers there that night came even close to her.

Death of a Music Legend

The news of Whitney Houston's death is shocking and yet it isn't. She was on a downward spiral for a long time. Her troubled, self destructive marriage to Bobby Brown, her ravenous addiction to drugs; all this contributed to destroy the once beautiful, glorious singer. Perhaps the pressures of fame were too much for her, perhaps she would have been happier leading a quiet life and singing in a chorus in a little town somewhere, but her talent was too great, her voice too magnificent and needed to be shared with the world. She was a tragic figure but she gave us the gift of her music for many years and that's the gift that will endure. Her legacy is her music, that powerful, shining voice that came from a secret reservoir inside her soul and reached out to touch us all. Thank you for making us dream, Whitney, thank you for making us fall in love to your music. A grateful world bids you farewell with sadness and awe today.

Farewell Jeffrey Zaslow

The tragic, untimely death of author Jeffrey Zaslow in a freak accident yesterday in Michigan, left me shocked and dismayed. Life is fleeting but he made the most out of his relatively short life. He did what he was meant to do in this life and that was to create. That he was taken so suddenly and so brutally, this wonderful man who co-wrote "The Last Lecture" and many other substantial books, is one of the great ironies of life, and I'm sure he would have chosen to make his demise with time to say goodbye to his loved ones if he'd had the chance. Yes he led a full life, yes he knew what was really important but one still feels a deep sense of loss, a feeling of being gypped somehow. He had so much more to give but it wasn't meant to be. May he rest in peace.

JFK's Intern

Another hot little book has made its salacious appearance, folks. "Once Upon a Secret," by a certain intern who alledgedly had an affair with JKF when she was a sweet, innocent, virginal nineteen year old, and he, an aging, lecherous forty five year old. She calls it an affair, but it doesn't even qualify for that. It was more a relationship between a John and a call girl (and a cheap one at that) because other than the privilege of sleeping with the "president," she didn't get much out of it. In the round of interviews she's done to promote "her book," she says she never felt bad about losing her virginity to him on their second meeting in the White House, not did she feel bad about Jackie, the children or herself for that matter. "Maybe I was shocked it happened?" she says batting her eyelashes, this sixty eight year old woman who seems to have weathered her years very well. She feels bad about servicing another man in the pool, however, because the president asked her, although she admits that she didn't feel bad about it at that point. "Maybe I feel bad that I didn't feel bad?" she asks, smiling sweetly. "You know what I mean?" Her motivation is not money, she says, but wanting to unburden herself of the secret she's kept for fifty years. But why would she feel the need to unburden herself of something that she never felt was bad or shameful to begin with? Meredith looked baffled, but like the excellent interviewer she is, she handled the awkward moment beautifully. She will make a ton of money and that is her only motive for writing this sordid book, which does nothing but soil her own reputation by making her look like a fool. As for the president, we all know he was a great womanizer so there's no surprise there. He already paid the ultimate price so his mystique will continue unabated.

Greg Kelly's Accuser

All charges against Greg Kelly (TV talk show host and son of NYPD Commissioner) were dropped today and he will be free to resume his life and career, but the damage to his reputation has already been done because there will be many people out there who would look at him with a jaundiced eye wondering what really happened; and all because his quick pick up wanted to come back for seconds or needed some publicity to ignite her modelling career (she's an aspirant model, folks) and is probably finding it hard to get work the usual way. The worst thing of it all is that she won't even face any punishment from the law. How is that possible? Her story had holes all over the place right from the beginning and should have never been brought to the public, yet it was and she succeeded in humiliating and embarrassing the host. I'm afraid that as long as these women can press false charges against men due to variety of reasons without any punishment, many more will suffer. When are they going to be held accountable? And when are men going to learn that those one night stands simply do not pay? I hope Greg Kelly learns from this and never does it again. As for her, she should consider herself darn lucky she got away with it. Some day the law will stop being so tolerant of these liars and will have to prosecute them for bringing false charges.

A Real Greek Tragedy

The Susan Powell story is a real Greek tragedy, there's just no other way to describe it - married to a monster, being constantly harassed and molested by a pervert father in law - living in terror for years, and finally ending up dead at the hands of her sick husband. And if that weren't enough, now her children and monster husband are dead by fire in a horrific murder suicide. The law failed these children miserably. The sick individual who killed them was under the umbrella of suspicion for years, but because they only had circumstantial evidence, they allowed him to keep the children until recently, and he continued living his miserable life unscathed, spreading vicious innuendo about the victim running off with another man, etc. Now two beautiful, innocent children are dead at the hands of this monster who couldn't even do one decent thing in his life and take himself alone, no, he had to take his children with him. He should have been arrested immediately after his wife went missing, instead the cops pretended to buy that cockamamie story that he went camping in a blizzard, in the middle of the night while his wife went running to her lover, or that she simply vanished into thin air by black magic. The law has to change. It has to stop protecting criminals. If the circumstantial evidence reeks to high heaven that should be enough to arrest an individual. Had they done that with this psycho, the two tragic children he murdered would be alive today.

Adieu to Ben Gazarra

Adieu to a wonderful actor who left a lasting legacy. His dark looks, brooding manner and famous intensity were his trademark, yet one always suspected there was more, much more under the surface that hadn't been explored yet. His piercing eyes, which were his best feature, couldn't hide an inner sadness and a melancholy nature. One sensed that for Ben Gazarra life was a painful affair. There was always a loneliness and heaviness there that nothing seemed to alleviate, it's what gave his work its power, what had us remembering him long after the movie was over. He never sought fame,riches and power like many of his contemporaries, instead, it seemed to be the work he was after. And it is that rich, varied tapestry of work which will now survive him.

Joaquin Phoenix

Last night I saw the infamous "mockdocumentary" that this gifted actor engaged in last year. I was switching channels and caught it quite by chance(already started, thank God) on Starz. The question that begs an answer is why would he engage in such stupidity and such brutality? He was bloated, foul mouthed, abusive, unkempt and quite gross in this painful to watch video, for what purpose? To shock people? To make fun of them? He looked like an utter fool making the real breakdown with Charlie Sheen seem like a walk in the park. Didn't he learn anything from his brother's tragic, untimely death? Why would he want to discredit himself in such a manner? Maybe he's not as solid as I thought he was and he may also have a monkey on his back. This horrid video is probably one of the most destructive things he did because there are many people out there now (including me) who actually think that there was a lot of truth to it.

Dear Cary

The new book by Dyan Cannon is quite a treat. I read the whole thing from beginning to end without missing a word, that's how good it was. I usually find myself jumping to the good parts, the juicy parts, but here I simply couldn't afford that luxury. He was, of course, the most dashing, most sophisticated actor ever to grace the movies. She was the relatively unknown young actress who caught his eye and later captured his heart. She was envied by millions for having caught the man we all dreamed about, finding out mates dull and boring in comparison afterwards. But their life together was not a fairy tale and she writes about it with raw honesty and compassion. There are always two sides to every story and when they divorced, most of us were outraged. We felt she had used him for fame and forture, that she had never really loved him, etc, etc. Reading her book you realize she loved him desperately, passionately, like any of us would have. She probably grew up loving him as we all did, but he was not the flawlessly perfect diamond that shone so brightly on the screen. He was a complex man who had been seriously wounded at birth and never got over it. She couldn't overcome that, no woman ever would, and he was condemned to live eternally on celluloid, eliciting fantasies of glamour, self assurance and happiness he was far from feeling in his real life. Like Marilyn Monroe, these two greats, created masterpieces of themselves that will live on forever.

Heartbreaking

The story on the post today about a man and his best friend broke my heart. He was forced to put his healthy dog to sleep because of constant harassment from the building and the tenants after new, strict regulations were implemented. The regulations didn't apply to tenants who already had dogs but Santino, a struggling actor, became the focus of harassment from tenants and the building management due to the fact that his dog, a gentle pit-bull mix was the only dog of its kind in the building. People declared open war on him and his dog by inventing stories and making complaints and all that pressure finally broke this kind, sensitive man who he was forced to put his best friend to sleep. Unable to live with himself after succumbing to the unthinkable, Santino committed suicide. People in the building have blood in their hands today. All these intolerant, mean spirited people who made up stories, who engaged into an open warfare with this poor, vulnerable man have to come to terms with the fact that they drove this man to suicide today. They have their building to themselves now, they can go on leading their selfish, insensitive lives. They were obviously too cruel, too callous to understand that to a lonely person, the dog becomes a lifeline, a family, a reason to get up in the morning. In a life, filled with heartache and disappointment, perhaps the only who ever loved him unconditionally was his beloved pet. May they both rest in peace.

A killer's nightmare

Rumor has it that Joran van der Sloot's health is deteriorating rapidly in the north of Peru in Piedras Piedras prison. He had made himself quite comfortable in the previous prison and now he's feeling the heat. Poor Joran, his calvary has only just begun. Maybe in solitary confinement where they now have him he has plenty of time to realize his own destruction. Aruba and its sunny beaches where he once reigned supreme is becoming nothing but a cruel memory. If only his parents had sought out psychiatric help for him long ago, they might have been able to get to the source of his rage instead of sweeping his problems under the carpet. But now he's doomed, destined to do the time in one of the worst jails in the world. Had he confessed to Natalee's crime in Aruba, he would have done the time in paradise and Stephanie would still be alive. It will be interesting to see if this brutal man, who cruelly snuffed out two precious lives, can now bear to do the time.

The Price of Celebrity

The recent breakdowns of Demi Moore and Heather Locklear show us all how vulnerable celebrities really are to the stresses of life that beset most of us when our marriages and relationships end. We seem to think that because they have money, power and fame, they don't get affected the same way because they have tons of opportunities to escape, to indulge themselves in expensive spas and exotic islands, but these two once beautiful actresses are showing us that nothing could be farther from the truth, and that they are subject to the same insecurities, torments and fears that assail us all. Some are more sensitive than others, who will quickly buy a boytoy and distract themselves for a while, while others, perhaps more proud, feel adrift, lost and therefore suffer more.

The most erotic couple in show business calls it quits.

What a shocker, right? They seemed so happy, so in love, so sexy together. Rumor has it so far that he had a bad temper and she couldn't take it anymore, but I'm sure there will be more gossip and innuendo coming up soon enough. So Heidi Klum and Seal are no more. But they lived a great, erotic adventure, that's for sure. You couldn't look at these two without imagining them in bed, ablaze with desire, a modern Othelo and Desdemona without the jealousy, but passion is not enough to sustain a long marriage and everything comes to an end sooner or later. Yet we will miss them, we'll miss their flair, their crazy parties, their scorching pictures, the almost reckless flaunting of their relationship.

Goodbye Gabrielle

I guess it was inevitable that she would end up losing her job. Her recovery was nothing sort of miraculous but the injury changed her life forever. I hope she eventually achieves a full recovery. She is a wonderful woman who has given all of us a lesson in grace and courage. May your new path be filled with joy and love Gabrielle. I'm sure congress will miss you.

A Great Excuse for Cowardice

The Captain of the Doomed Ship is now saying he tripped right into safety, folks. He didn't want to find himself safely ensconced in a life boat while the passengers were drowning, but the elements pushed him there against his will and prevented him from coming back. So what was a captain to do? Yet the recordings show he was ordered to go back time and time again but he still refused to budge. I guess the elements were forcing him to watch while chaos ensued all around him.

Doomed Cruise

As more and more details leak out, we can see that this was the "Voyage of the Damned." That captain was incompetent and cowardly to just abandon the ship like a rat and leave everyone to their fate. Heartbreaking details of missing people who saved all their lives to take this voyage from hell are emerging. And the death toll is already climbing and will climb higher before it's all over. I've been in a few cruises in my life and always thought they were the safest way to go, now this gives me pause. The captain will be disgraced, jailed and repudiated but that's not going to bring the victims back.