Lyric Excerpt--Treasure

One man's trash is another man's treasure
One man's poison is another man's meat
One man's pain is another man's pleasure
One man's trial is another man's treat

You made a big mistake when you held my love at bay
You made a big mistake when you damned my love to hell
You made a big mistake when you threw my love away
So I will give the treasure of my love to someone else

Yeesh, them's fightin' words! But fighting a good fight..the fight for being treated right! One of our family mottos is "avoid where you're tolerated, go where you're celebrated, avoid where you're tolerating, go where you're celebrating." Life is too short, friends. Let's fill it with the lovely colors of healthy relationships, not the grays of the unhealthy. I'll hopefully be singing this new song in its entirety tomorrow (3-28-09) at an appropriate place, which was actually my mental inspiration for the lyric, The West End Salvage and Coffee Place downtown, during a performance by an up and coming young talent named Dan Berry. (It's from 2 to 4, come on down!)

And when I do, it will be a great reminder that I'm worth being treated well, by others and by my own self.

Feast of One-Season Wonders--TV on DVD

1. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip -- Aaron Sorkin's next project after "The West Wing" was a little disjointed in terms of tone, which made it a little awkward at times to view...should we be laughing, crying, thinking those deep Aaron Sorkin political platitude thoughts? But when his writing was "on", the resonance was gripping. It didn't help matters that "30 Rock" came out about the same time and struck such a witty, comedic chord. But this show is definitely worth a view - it takes a few episodes to grow on you, and no doubt would have become even better if given the chance. Alas, this budding TV tree was chopped down too soon.

2. Commander-In-Chief -- Speaking of "The West Wing", this show came across a little bit like the cheaper-budget version. It aspired to be a bit more relational than TWW, and that distilled the potential power of the executive, military, presidential stuff. This was a compelling concept, born from a really good movie called "The Contender" with Jeff Bridges and Joan Allen. And with Geena Davis as the title character, the fantasy version of the first woman and independent president, in an awesome, perfectly-cast, grand-slam performance, this show could have been a crowd and critic favorite. Alas, this budding TV tree was chopped down too soon.

3. The Comeback -- And now for my personal favorite of the three, this Lisa Kudrow vehicle on HBO was her first big thing after "Friends", and Michael Patrick King's first big thing after "Sex And The City". So it doesn't get much hotter than that, except that the heat didn't translate to fan love. This creative, poignant, unorthodox, category-defying gem, with a superb leading lady comedic turn very worthy of "cherishing" (that's a take on the lead character's name), was just too smart for its intended audience. Its brilliance gets even brighter upon repeat viewings. Alas, this budding TV tree was chopped down way way way too soon.

http://www.tv.com/studio-60-on-the-sunset-strip/show/58214/summary.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander_in_Chief_(TV_series)
http://www.hbo.com/comeback/

Lyric Excerpt--Blessing In Disguise

Just recorded a demo version of this, a power lash-out ballad I wrote which includes the following:

Blessing In Disguise

Chorus:
I loved you, but you did not love me
What was then, was then, and what will be, will be
So thank you for saving me from your pack of lies
For your absence has become a blessing in disguise

Amazing to look back at the loss of someone/something you cried for, craved for, never believing for a moment you could ever live without it/them, only to discover much later that gone equals good. Whoo--let's take a breath and say that again...gone equals good! Whatever the dysfunctional toxic person, relationship, compulsion, behavior, etc.., if being present equals bad, then gone equals good. No fill-in-the-blank is better than a bad fill-in-the-blank (lover, employer, system, belief, food, bike route, bowling ball, you name it).

Seriously, life is short, too short for settling in any way, shape or form. Let's keep our standards at the tippy tippy top when it comes to love, truth, beauty, freedom, peace, clothes, closets, ice trays, potholders, everything and everyone! Our Who's, What's, When's, Where's, Why's and How's all merit our very best response at any given moment. And the more I get in sync with this, the happier and healthier human I am becoming, and it feels great! More hard, sad losses continually reveal themselves as "happy blessings in disguise".

When it comes to less-than-the-best, gone equals not just good, gone equals GREAT!

Portfolio Soul

For your consideration (a.k.a. snooping), here are the daily learning tools I've been using for refueling and refocusing purposes. I highly recommend them, as well as all other works associated with their authors. So with the hope of bringing a few more fans to these extremely well-deserving sources, here are the 3 latest & greatest selections from my personal Soul Portfolio:

The Artist's Way--original book/Julia Cameron

Devotional Classics/Richard Foster/Renovare

Walking On Water/Madeleine L'Engle