Susan Boyle, Libby and me

Ok, so by now everyone on the planet, give or take a few, has clicked on a time or twenty ( I am guilty ) to see the wonderful clip of a shy, 47 year old Scottish woman sing "I Dreamed A Dream"  ( I would also recommend checking out her "Cry Me A River" rendition as well ) on youtube. Susan Boyle auditioned on "Britain's Got Talent." When she walked out before a cynical audience dressed in what appeared to be finery from the 1950s the audience gave her a hard time and the judges rolled their eyes. They figured she would be like so many other delusionals of all ages, shapes and sizes, who have appeared on these show. But one never knows. So she sang a lovely song and the world has embraced her talent. 

Ok, and now for those of us who have not yet stepped into the spotlight. Like my incredibly talented sister, Libby. Libby sings the same sort of songs that Susan Boyle does: standards and showtunes. And Libby can, vocally, knock it out of the ballpark. The main difference between these ladies is that Libby is Scottish-American and Susan is Scottish. Oh, and Libby is a redhead ( Scotland, btw, has the highest percentage of natural redheads in the world and that is not including Scottish-Americans like Libby and my two redheaded brothers ). And then there is the OTHER difference: Libby is 56 rather than 47. 

I know that Libby is not alone. There are so many incredibly talented singers out there who do not fall into the generic young and beautiful category ( and too often falling into the can't sing their way out of a paper bag category as well ). Shows like Britain's Got Talent and America's Got Talent are godsends because even if it doesn't mean that all of us who are not beauty queens or kings and who are older than 28 ( the oldest one can be for American Idol and for the record industry the cut off age is even younger ) can still continue in our dreams.

Now if there was only a show where I would not fall through the cracks. I am a singer songwriter who is 60 and have written around 10,000 songs ( some of em are really good too! ). But there is no show for older people like myself that showcases singer songwriters. They all go for the cover tunes, which I do not sing. But if I can get my sister Libby to "go for it" by entering AGT. I would have no problem standing on the sidelines and cheering her on to victory. Yes, she is that good!

Today I broke out with my keyboards ( that I play horribly ) and hooked up my little 50 dollah machine with the microphone and recorded a couple of songs onto my photo booth video feature. I was rather pleased with the result. Now for the tech dummy to figure out how to upload them to youtube and then I too can become a video star... 

SAC 

Hopefully soon... the woman with a voice

I love craigslist. It is wonderful for yard sales and also it is a place where one can contact and find music people. The other day I talked to a producer who lives in Palm Desert. Ok, so he does not record HARD ROCK ( I am 60 and I wanna be a rock star. Isn't that what people want to do when they turn 60? Ok, maybe not... ). But he has been playing keyboards for over 35 years and he has a studio and his rates are reasonable for church muses ( church muse: poor artistic relation of a church mouse ) like myself. Of course my biggest problem will be getting to where he has his studio... who in my family can I bribe?????? Right now David the producer is working on getting some things done in his studio ( upgrading it ) and he will call me next week. And I am excited about this as I might FINALLY be able to get some songs recorded professionally. My dear brother Hal suggested that I learn garageband and get a mike. Thanks, bro! The only problem is that I am REALLY BAD on keyboards and I can honestly say I have no burning desire or any desire WHATSOEVER to play ANY instrument other than VOICE. I do not know who it was that wrote the unwritten law that if one sings they should also play an instrument and of course that especially applies to songwriters. When one finds him can they tell me WHO it is so I can slowly torture them slowly so they scream for death for coming up with that unspoken law? To turn my straw into gold I am not gonna spin some tune on any instrument besides a microphone.  And any goldmeisters out there will need to do all the mechanical, electrical and tech stuff. Woman with a voice, that is me.

Oh one last word here, READ LIBBY'S BLOG! She is a great writer and she will have you snickering away with her mad cap adventures of losing weight to look sexy and hot while trying not to eat things that are BAD FOR YOU and taste like heaven divine ( note to Libby: this does NOT include that fiendish potion known as "Diet Coke." ).  

Never too old to rock

One of my Hollywood buds, Tina, invited me to join a great new group called Never Too Old To Rock. Since I am 60 and STILL want to be in a rock band ( hope dies hard ) I joined up pronto. and you too can meander on over to www.ntotr.ning.com/ and join. And if i screwed up and got the wrong url just let me know. 

Tina is the one who was the catalyst for my being online. She started out on Webtv and after a year she graduated to a computer. I am nowhere near as tech savvy as she is so I still on Webtv and even though I got my Mac within this last year, I still don't know how to do most of the basics ( I have a printer, how the heck do I use it? How do I scan? How do I upload this file and that? Blah blah blah blah etc etc ). But while on Webtv I met John, this Aussie dude, introduced him to my sister Libby and yesterday ( ok, two days ago now as it is the 31st of March being after midnight ) was their wedding anniversary! I am not sure how many years they have been married but it has been, I think, maybe 5 or more. I also met my best friend Cheryl aka Dovey, and it is amazing how you can be buds with someone and just love them to pieces and know them for almost a decade and never have met them in person! I am hoping that Cheryl and I can finally meet next year, it will be a decade then. I keep telling her that the Coachella Festival is calling her name and it is only a mile from where I live. 

SAC

Some spiders are not your friend

Back when I lived in Hollyweird I had a pet spider. Oh -kay, you might be going, you had a pet what? I kid you not. I had a spider who was a daddy longlegs who befriended me. He would follow me around my apartment. I would talk to him and it would respond. I could feel its emotions. No, it is true! Spidey was my buddy, he was my friend. And when he was accidently killed I put him in a baggie and brought him with me when I came out to the desert. I figured I would bury him one day, maybe under a rose bush that I have not yet planted. 

I loved Spidey. He was my friend. Warm fuzzy feelings abounded. HOWEVER, some spiders are NOT your friend. Last night around 2 am I decided I would turn on the light, get up and go get some strawberries and ice cream ( something I might possibly repeat once I log off ). I looked over at the wall corner next to the bathroom and oh my MY! There in the corner was the BIGGEST and the BLACKEST ( pitch black,  night with no moon black, patent leather shiny shoes black ) and the CREEPY SCARIEST BLACK WIDOW SPIDER I have ever seen in my entire life ( and yes, I have seen a few and NO, none of them have been my spider buddies ). So I went into the kitchen, grabbed about 4 paper towels, came back into the bedroom and SQUISHED ( twice at least ) the spider who was not my friend. I sent it to spider heaven where it can play with Spidey. And it did not get to bite me and send me to the emergency room. IT WAS HUGE. Little black widows might make you sicker than a dog who falls out of a truck bed going ninety but BIG black widows will make you sick to death's door and even beyond. IT WAS THAT BIG. 

I am still creeped out about this. DUH! Welcome to the desert. Jungles ain't got nothin' on the desert. We have rattlesnakes out here too. They are not my friend either. 

SAC

Fattie Fattie Two by Four Onion Dip

Over at my sister Libby's blog there is a recipe of one of her favorite things: a recipe I was given when I was in about the 7th grade. Now keep in mind that I was a waif until I turned about 30. I personally believe it is because of this dip recipe that I am no longer a size 5 and weigh 105 on my 5'4" frame. So here is the recipe. I eat these with Lays ruffles dip chips ( though I have discovered Kroger wavy potato chips and they are pretty good with this too ).

1 pint sour cream 1 pint cottage cheese, small curd. I use low fat for this. 1 and 1/2 packets of onion dip ( Liptons or otherwise ). 1 dash of French's worchestershire sauce, sprinkle of garlic granules, 1 pinch of dried chopped chives, squirt of fresh lemon juice. Mix this heavenly concoction and put in the freezer for maybe 20 to 30 minutes to get nice and chill. Enough for maybe 4 people or 1 greedy pig. As if I share!!!!!! 

Now because I am in THE MOOD I will toss out a couple of other recipes:

Killer Strawberry Daiquiri Toss a bunch of strawberries into a blender. Add about 1/4 cup of homemade lemonade. Sprinkle in maybe 1 or 1 and a half teaspoons of superfine ( also called bakers ) sugar. Squeeze one lime into this. Add a jigger ( 1 1/2 ounce, or make it 2 ounces or to taste ) Bacardi white. Add about 1/2 ounce of Grand Marnier. Add 1/4 ounce 151 proof rum. Blend the heck out of it and serve over ice ( or crush the ice up with it ). Rearrange the alcohol and other stuff but best to manage a smaller amount of the GM and 151 as you want a subtle flavor from the GM and you want to be conscious so you don't want to over do it with the 151. 

Super easy Neopolitan: slice 7 big fat strawberries and sprinkle about a teaspoon or more superfine sugar over them. Toss a couple of scoops of French Vanilla ice cream on top of them, drizzle with Hershey's chocolate syrup. Super easy and divine. 

Yum...

A lovely afternoon and evening.

I am a night owl. As usual I was up all night. I was expecting my mom to come over this afternoon with a big pot which I would borrow from her to make corn beef and cabbage in. So I did not crawl out of bed until 3:30 pm. I then went out to check my mail ( there was none ) an hour later and there sat a big pot in front of my door. There was also a bag of lemons and a bag of granny smith apples. And no mom. Oh dear. So I tossed the corn beef into the nice big pot and about half an hour later mom, Julian and Nathan show up. Julian ands Nathan visited for a little bit and then they took off. I had a lovely visit with mom while waiting for the corn beef ( and then cabbage, carrots, onions and potatoes ) to cook. I invited my next door neighbor Margie over and mom talked Margie's ear off for a couple of hours until the corned beef and cabbage was done. After dinner was dessert of vanilla ice cream and big blackberries. They had been frozen but I nuked them in the microwave for a minute on defrost and they were perfect. Mom and I had a lovely time together and I really enjoyed cooking for her. THIS is why I moved here to the desert. I moved here to be able to have my mom come over and have me fix her dinner and dessert and then do the dishes. I love to pamper mom and hopefully I can have some time to do that. Heaven knows, she needs some pampering. :-) I love you, mom. And it was a lovely afternoon and evening having you come over and sit in my new rocking recliner while I sat in my old chair and watched you smile and exclaim what a wonderful cook I am. Well, it takes one to know one and I inherited my love of cooking and my ability to turn out a good meal from my mom --- who was a fabulous cook. But it is ok for you to now sit back and have me cook and clean up for you. You gave me such a lovely childhood of home cooked meals so to be able to return that favor just a little makes me happy. Mom, did I mention I love you? I can never do that enough. 

SAC