Happy Anniversary to the Savoy!

Wow.  Can you believe the Savoy Jazz Club turned four years old this past Wednesday ?

A wonderful evening of great DJs and live performances was hosted at the club. Parker Janick did a great job decorating and hosting (as always!).  

I've had so many amazing memories at the Savoy - and I think my blog post would be truncated if I started recounting everything.  I've worked there..played there..and everything in between.  Owners Crighton Johin and Bill Mondegreen are fantastic - from their vast music knowledge (and teachings!) to their generous spirit in letting the Savoy be used as a venue for various charity auctions and fundraisers. 

A better place and better people..well, you won't find. 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Marco%20Island/207/69/22

If you haven't been, you're missing out.  :) 


Happy anniversary - and here's to many more years.


XOXO,
B

A Thousand Years....

"A Thousand Years"
Christina Perri

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall
But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

[Chorus:]
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

[Chorus:]
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

One step closer
One step closer

[Chorus:]
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Fifty Shades of Grey

Okay. 

I gave into the hype.

I downloaded the highly popular 'Fifty Shades of Grey' by E.L. James.  Everyone's raving about it.  So...it can't be that bad, right?

Well..the story was........addictive.  The heat, the attraction.....the intensity is amazing.

But the story....is somewhat like watching a bloody accident.  You want to look away, but you can't.

I have never suffered to finish a book (save Moby Dick, maybe) like I did with Fifty Shades of Grey.

And then the ending!  I mean...what?!

 Don't get me wrong.  The sex?  Smoking.  But there is a point where (as hard as it is to believe), you get too much of it and you just want it to stop in the book.  Like..they need to seriously stop.

The plot?  Less than.  The  reality of the characters?  Doesn't exist.

 It's a guilty read.  Some excellent sexing tips.  But nothing about this book makes it a MUST READ.

Sorry popular folks.  I disagree with your opinion on this one.

But don't let me judge for you.  Check it out for yourself.

http://www.eljamesauthor.com/books/fifty-shades-of-grey


XOXO,

B

Cyberbullying: It's Just a Little Text....

When I was a kid, in order to be bullied...a bully had to physically be present.  A kid that when you saw them..you'd sweat and feel like running for the hills.  I never imagined a day when a bully could get to you from five miles away, let alone maybe thousands - all while remaining nameless and faceless.

Thank you, internet for the invention of cyberbullying.  

What is cyberbullying, exactly?

According to StopCyberBullying.Org, "Cyberbullying" is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. It has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another minor. Once adults become involved, it is plain and simple cyber-harassment or cyberstalking. Adult cyber-harassment or cyberstalking is NEVER called cyberbullying.

There are two kinds of cyberbullying, direct attacks (messages sent to your kids directly) and cyberbullying by proxy (using others to help cyberbully the victim, either with or without the accomplice's knowledge).

What do you do if your child is being cyberbullied?

First and foremost, parents/guardians need to be the one trusted place kids can go when things go wrong online and offline. Yet they often are the one place kids avoid when things go wrong online. Why? Parents tend to overreact. Most children will avoid telling their parents about a cyberbullying incident fearing they will only make things worse. (Calling the other parents, the school, blaming the victim or taking away Internet privileges.) Unfortunately, they also sometimes under-react, and rarely get it "just right."

Parents need to be supportive of your child during this time. You may be tempted to give the "stick and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you" lecture, but words and cyberattacks can wound a child easily and have a lasting effect. These attacks follow them into your otherwise safe home and wherever they go online. And when up to 700 million accomplices can be recruited to help target or humiliate your child, the risk of emotional pain is very real, and very serious. Don't brush it off. 

Let the school know so the guidance counselor can keep an eye out for in-school bullying and for how your child is handling things. You may want to notify your pediatrician,  family counselor or clergy for support if things progress. It is crucial that you are there to provide the necessary support and love. Make them feel secure. Children have committed suicide after having been cyberbullied, and in Japan one young girl killed another after a cyberbullying incident. Take it seriously.

Who hasn't seen the CW tween dramas where photos are texted..where dirt is spread via texts, social networking sites, blogs, youtube, etc.?  There's an entire show based on the on-line gossiping about NYC Upper East Side kids?  Isn't it sad that we glorify this behavior?  Make it cool and popular?  (Love Gossip Girl fashion..hate the premise of the show).  This is cyberbullying.  These are the things that are breaking down our youth..eating away at them little by little.

The most important thing that you can do for the children in your life is to BE AWARE.  Be active, be aware and be there for them.  You never know when they may need you. 

Sometimes, cyberbullying leaves the virtual world and becomes a REAL world problem.  According to www.stompoutbully.org, cyberbullying can become a crime by:

• Physically assaulting someone
• Harassing someone especially if the harassment is based on gender or racism
• Making violent threats
• Making death threats
• Making obscene and harassing phone calls and texts
• Sexting
• Sextortion which is sexual exploitation
• Child pornography
• Stalking someone
• Committing hate crimes
• Taking a photo of someone in a place where they expect privacy
• Extortion

Don't hesitate to turn evidence of cyberbullying over to the authorities - save whatever you can.

www.stopcyberbullying.org  contains a lot of useful information, including how to tell the difference between flaming, cyberbullying, harrassment and cyberstalking.  Click Here

www.stompoubullying.com also provides a lot of great information and tools for multiple types of bullying (including cyberbullying).

This should line the halls of every school..and be taught to children at an early age.  Maybe then..bullying would become a thing of the past for children everywhere..

Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character for it becomes your destiny.
– Patrick Overton

 

This Public Service Announcement was brought to you by the Concerned Bloggers Association.

If you would like to become involved, please contact Marleen Vaughan for more information.

XOXO,

Bliss

Other Desert Cities..

My mom's birthday was last week.  She's always so hard to shop for - I imagine that's where I get it from.  So, I decided to take her to dinner and then to see a Broadway show.

I love my mom.  I really do.  But in my whole life..there has never been anyone that can push my buttons like she can.  I guess maybe we're so much alike..and yet so very different - which is a perfect recipe for a somewhat strained relationship.

In ANY event.

I took her to see "Other Desert Cities", which received rave reviews (and I was able to get center, second row, orchestra seats!).  In case you didn't know, the blurb on the play is as follows:


In OTHER DESERT CITIES, Brooke Wyeth (Elizabeth Marvel) returns home to Palm Springs to visit her parents (Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach) after a six-year absence. A once-promising novelist, she announces to her family the imminent publication of a memoir dredging up a pivotal and tragic event in the family's history - a wound that her parents don't want reopened.

Brooke has come home to draw a line in the sand and is daring her family to cross it. Her brother (Justin Kirk) won't play her game; her aunt (Judith Light) knows way too much, and her parents fall into all their old routines as they plead with her to keep their story quiet. In this family, secrets are currency and everyone is rich.

In simplest terms, the play is about a girl who comes home to the desert with a story about where she is from, who her people really are, what she thinks they really are. Her parents represent an Establishment that she feels has betrayed this country. She goes to war with them, and blood is spilled. 

Let me say this..the play is phenomenal.  It's so captivating that you almost feel like you're a silent family member watching it all take place.

Stockard Channing is AMAZING.  She's so amazing as the iron-fisted mother that would do anything to protect her family and keep their family secret buried.......you even spend a part of the play completely relating to her daughter and hating her.

During intermission my mom looked over at me and asked me what I thought.  I told her that I felt like..if you kept secrets from those you love (and those who love you), they'll never truly know you or understand you.  her response was simple.  "Sometimes, you do things that you have to take to the grave with you."  Some secrets are meant to be kept, I guess.  I imagine my mom's got some of her own, and there will be things about her and her life that I will never know.

A part of that makes me sad.  Like I'll truly never know her or her story.

But another part of me understands that everyone is entitled to keep a part of themselves private - unjudged and safe.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone (obviously the deep, dark secret is revealed), but I will say this..

Sometimes secrets can tear people apart.  And other times......secrets are all that can help hold you together.

If you're in NYC, I highly recommend this play.  The writing and acting are both so outstanding that there are no words to do it justice.

Happy Sunday, kids.


XOXO,
B

Stop Kony 2012

Hola kids..

I'm not a..hop on the bandwagon kind of gal.  And before I continue..I want to make the following very clear:

I am not saying you should donate money - I have done zero research on the group involved, and I won't promote donating if I haven't done my due diligence.  I'm simply sharing this video because I think it's worth at least listening to.  So many things are going on in this world that we don't know about - and sometimes just educating yourself is the first step.

I have thought a little about it..

And I imagine raising awareness and making my voice heard (so to speak) may prompt the US to send soldiers into Uganda..and I can't even fathom soldiers (ours..or anyone else's) having to face an army of CHILDREN.  I wouldn't be the one on the front line - so it's easy to say we should go in and handle it.  But I don't truly know where I stand right now on US involvement in stopping this monster.  All I know is that he should be stopped.  I know that if anyone in this world should be safe..it should be kids.  They are our future..and we should be protecting them.   

I'd never heard of Kony before, and I at least wanted to share it.  The fact that this has been going on for so long is appalling.  And scary - very, very scary.  But.  Judge for yourself. 

Happy hump day!


XOXO,
B

The Average Girl's Guide..

I'm a HUGE fan of this blog.  It's down to earth and so fabulous.  Read it..you WILL fall in love!

http://theaveragegirlsguide.com/

Happy Monday!


XOXO,
B

Part of Me..

My new PowerSong for my evening run.

Enjoy.

Five Years and Counting...

Wow.  Today is my five year rezz day in Second Life.

Things have changed so much since I logged in that day.  Mostly, I think I've changed.

So many friends have come and gone - and so many still remain.

I can't even begin to list the people that have touched my life and been a party of my Second Life journey.  I walked into a club five years ago called Roll Over Beethoven, and I met some of the most amazing people ever.  I was also exposed to an entirely new world of music - as evidenced by the insanity that is my iPod. 

From that day on, I've been into countless clubs, seen so many different DJs, met so many people, had so many jobs, worn SO MANY OUTFITS.  LOL.

But I can honestly say that the last two years of my second life have been so....relaxed and laid back.  I feel like I've finally slipped into this amazing place where life's back to being all about the music and the company.  No drama, no issues, no pressure.  Kinda like, I grew up and got past so much of what was making me a train wreck years ago. 

I've been so blessed in my lives (first and second) to have made a friend like Beverly.  A truer friend I could never have asked for.  The kindness, love and absolutely non-judgmental friendship she offers is so rare and live saving.

And to still have the pleasure of sharing my world with people like Borday, Crighton, Ehric (all three of these guys from my first days in SL!), Cisqo, Bill, Nina, Parker, Quiet, Ayn, Hart, Prez, Joonie, Yordie, Abel, Leanna, Deylan, BigD, Cal, Heal, and Mikki (please forgive me if I missed anyone) whether through RL, in-world or this blog is amazing.  I'm honored to still keep in touch with and continue my friendships with so many outstanding people.

Over the last five years, so many unique and colorful people have come through my life.  Some pass through and color it for a moment, while others have left their imprint for years to come.  Wacky, Kaarlton, Cal, Kemi, Peng, Kim - just a few of the people I'm sad to let go of, but happy to have had in my life, and wish nothing but the best for. 

I've always tried to share my 'life lessons' here - so many others can avoid the pitfalls I fell into.  But the reality is that you need to experience some of these heartbreaks to become stronger and smarter.  Sometimes, some experiences are ones you need to have for yourself to truly understand.

I guess what I'm trying to say to everyone (and I do mean everyone - my old friends and new friends) is thank you.  Thank you for everything.  Thank you for the good, the bad, the love, the hate, the fights, the make-ups, the jokes, the music and above all else, thank you for being a part of my life.

With that, I leave you all with a parting song...one that I loved hearing when I first joined SL five years ago. 

We'll do it all
Everything
On our own

We don't need
Anything
Or anyone

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I don't quite know
How to say
How I feel

Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads

I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we’re told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see

I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world? 

-Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol

XOXO,
Bliss

Goodbye Whitney...

How sad. 

An incredible talent lost and a life cut short.

This album was the first album my sister and I ever bought with our pooled allowance money. 
  

I wish her the peace in death that eluded her in life.



B