And here we go . . .



1. When will I be loved?

2. Christian Amanpour's report on the children of Gaza that was on CNN last night was the last good book I read or movie I saw or tv show I watched.

3. Everything has its beauty but not every eye can see it.

4. Egyptian style macaroni and salad is what I had for dinner.

5. I'd like your attention, please.

6. On top of Old Smokey is where I want to be right now.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to catching up on all the work that didn't get done while my laptop was down, tomorrow my plans include harvesting the crops I planted in Farm Town tonight and Sunday, I want to see what happens!

Crazy Sam hosts the Saturday: 9 meme. And since I don't have a Saturday meme to help keep me posting on a daily basis, I've decided to take up the challenge. Here's what the meme is all about:

What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!


Let's get started. . .

1. Where were you when you heard that Michael Jackson died?

I was at home, sitting in front of my laptop, doing homework when the announcement interrupted regular CNN programming.

2. How do you think that he will be remembered?

I wish that I could say Michael will be remembered only for the legacy of music he left to the world; however, I tend to agree with Deepak Chopra who notes in his beautiful piece, A Tribute to My Friend, Michael Jackson, that the world will remember the artist as much for his erratic and often strange behavior as it will for his compassion and talent.

3. What was your favorite Jackson tune?

When he was part of the Jackson 5, my favorite song is "Dancing Machine."


As a solo artist, my favorite is "Man in the Mirror."



4. Did you watch the original Charlie’s Angels?

Yes, I did. It wasn't a show that I watched regularly, though.

5. Did someone you know have that poster of Farrah?

OMG, yes! I think just about every boy at my high school had the Farrah poster.

6. Did you consider her battle with cancer heroic?

I think that we focus too much on celebrities and when they battle horrific diseases like cancer, we call it "heroic." Farrah fought valiantly to save her life; however, I wouldn't go so far as to say that makes her battle any more "heroic" than the ones that thousands of others continue to fight against cancer.

7. Were you a fan of The Tonight Show Starring Johnnie Carson?

I've never been able to stay awake long enough to watch any of the late night talk shows.

8. Did you like Ed McMahon on the show?

I never saw him on the show.

9. What else will you remember McMahon for?

I will remember Ed McMahon most for his last appearance on the Larry King Show a couple of years ago. The image of this dignified elderly man, who I knew best from the days when he hosted Star Search, explaining that his home was in foreclosure, absolutely broke my heart. Here was a man who, after giving the entertainment industry his life, was now too old to find the work he needed in order to pay his bills. I found it utterly shameful, and the image of Mr. McMahon looking so frail and vulnerable is forever etched in my memory.

Back in 2006, when Al Jazeera English, the English language sister news channel to Al Jazeera in Arabic, launched, I really wanted to watch it. I called our satellite company and asked which channel number it would be assigned, only to discover that they had no intention of carrying the station -- ever. When I asked why, I was told in no uncertain terms that this company did not support "terror television." Since the channel was brand new, I wondered how they had determined that it broadcast "terror" and decided to shop for a cable service that carried it instead. My luck was no better in that arena than it had been with the satellite provider. Just like the kid who has never tasted spinach announces that he doesn't like it, our local satellite and cable providers had blacklisted Al Jazeera English before the station had had an opportunity to prove itself.

"Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage." -- Winston Churchill

Three years later, the new satellite system that the Amazing Egyptian Dude had installed several months ago has given us access to Al-Jazeera English under the Free-to-Air format. I have been able to watch it and assess for myself just how much "terror" the station broadcasts. Instead of "terror television," as countless fear and many believe it is, I have found Al-Jazeera English to be a news source every bit as valuable to the American audience as the Western mega news channels.

Much like CNN, Al-Jazeera English's hosts and reporters come from around the world. With such a diverse base, the channel is able to offer a true global perspective on the news. Take, for example, the case of Josh Rushing, whose report on Fault Lines, "Lone Star: The Death of a Small Town," chronicles the decline of the steel industry in his hometown of Lone Star, Texas, and illustrates how a small town with a population of less than 1700 people is dying because of the current economic crisis. The coverage of California's budget crisis and its impact on the state's poor in "California: Failed State" has been exemplary, as well. I suppose, though, that considering how bad off the Golden State really is at the moment, one could call this report, at least, "terror television." All in all, though, I fail to see what the hype and fear-mongering over Al Jazeera English is all about.

More and more, news reporting has become like the informercials that plague late, late night television: full of hype, rife with loaded language, and often downright comical to watch. CNN says it delivers “All news, all the time”; FOX claims to offer “Fair and balanced news reporting”; MSNBC uses technology to deliver "a fuller spectrum of news." Bells, whistles, catchy tag lines, slogans, and visually appealing hosts aside, each of these mega news channels claims to report the news. While this all sounds well and good, the truth of the matter is that even in the No-Spin Zone, far more spinning than reporting takes place on these channels. MSNBC caters to the far left, FOX delivers news with a distinctive far right twist, and CNN feeds both audiences.

Perhaps because I have a background in language analysis and research, or maybe just because I love to argue (not in the negative sense as in to scream and hurl insults, but to weigh the pros and cons of an issue using reason, logic, and facts), I learned long ago never to rely on a single source for important information. Recalling my mom's wise advice to me and my sisters whenever we fought with one another, I know that the truth lies somewhere in the middle of the "my side vs. your side" equation. And it is that middle ground, that truth, that I strive to find. Thus when it comes to the news, I follow a single story from multiple sources, analyzing the use of language, word choices, and presentation of facts to determine wherein that middle ground, or truth, can be found. It's not as hard as one might think to figure out a news source's position on an issue just by examining word choices and understanding denotation and connotation.

Mega news channels do have their place in American society. They all spin events to suit the ideology of their viewing audience; they are, after all, for profit entities and without an adequate rating to generate advertising dollars, these mega channels would fail. For those of us who long for the days of old-fashioned news reporting Edward R. Murrow style, however, they all leave a much to be desired.

I don't recall having talked about my addiction to American Idol before, but I confess -- I am totally hooked! It's my niece's fault, for it was she who got me started watching it in the second season. It wasn't until the season that Carrie Underwood was on, though, that I began taking the show seriously. From that point forward, it was inevitable that I would plan my life around Tuesday and Wednesday nights, LOL!

The 2009 season is now officially over and thanks to the nifty international satellite, I was able to watch the show live from the east coast. Although my personal favorite, Danny Gorkey (I don't know if that's how his name is spelled or not) was not in the running, I am thrilled with the winning choice!

And now I'm off to finish grading research papers, bask in the glory of having supported a winner, and the gradual onset of the "When does the next season of Idol start?" blues.

As I quickly approach the 1/2 century mark, I thought it would be fun to see what was happening in 1959, the year I was born. Here's my list of 13 interesting facts from 1959. (I'm a bit ahead of schedule, but tomorrow is my last teaching day for the semester -- for my career! -- and I have some work to get done this evening.)



#1 Barbie is "born." Not only did my mother buy me a Barbie that looked just like the one in the photo, but she also sewed and knitted an entire wardrobe for her! Even more cool is that Mattel, the company that manufactures Barbie, was located in my hometown (also the hometown of the Wilson brothers of the Beach Boys fame). As kids, my sisters and I toured the factory many times and were given the chance to be toy testers for the company.

#2 The U.S. grows by two. Alaska and Hawaii join the Union as the 49th and 50th states respectively. Alaska became #49 on January 3rd, and Hawaii took the 50th spot on August 21st. Just think of the economic boom this provided to flag manufacturers!

#3 Ronald Reagan is a Democrat. Even more interesting to the younger folks who know him only as a Republican is the fact that as part of his deal with General Electric, the sponsor of the show he hosted on television, Reagan was required to tour GE plants and give speeches. Thus in 1959, former President Reagan delivered more than 200 speeches as a "Democrat for Nixon." He switched his party affiliation in 1962, after GE fired him for making "controversial" speeches.

#4 Malcolm Little is born on May 19. In addition to sharing a birthday with Malcolm X, as he was later known, Nicole Brown Simpson was also born on May 19. Yikes -- they were both murdered! I also share my birthday with Pete Townshend, Jimmy Hoffa, Nora Ephron, Nancy Kwan (I love Flower Drum Song, by the way!), Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, Nellie Melba (of the peach dessert fame), and Johns Hopkins (of university and hospital fame).

As part of the circle of life, there were also some famous deaths on my birthday: Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Ogden Nash, Nathaniel Hawthorne (my very favorite American author), and Anne Boelyn.

#5 Oklahoma ends Prohibition! The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbidding the manufacture, sale, transport, and consumption of alcohol, began as "The Noble Experiment" 0n January 16, 1920 (it passed Congress in December 1917 and took a while to get the 2/3 majority ratification by the States to actually pass), despite Woodrow Wilson's presidential veto. The National Prohibition Act was seen as the answer to the issues of domestic violence, crime, and poverty, which the Temperance Movement argued were destroying the fabric of American society. Ironically, instead of curing the social ills that led to its passage, the Eighteenth Amendment contributed to an alarming increase in gang activities by creating a violent but extremely profitable black market for booze. Despite the increased crime rate across the country, it took 13 years before the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth. Ok, but that was 1933, so what happened to Oklahoma?

The Twenty-first Amendment allows individual states to control the sale of alcohol. That's why many Southern states (there was an incredibly strong Temperance Movement in the South) have "dry" cities and/or counties wherein alcohol cannot be sold. Oklahoma finally ended 51 years of Prohibition in 1959, but Mississippi didn't end it until 1966.

#6 Sexy Siren Steals Singing Sweetheart's Spouse! On May 12, 1959, Elizabeth Taylor married Eddie Fisher. Fine, so what? It's just another marriage made in Hollywood Heaven, right? Not on your life! Taylor, the sultry siren, stole her man from America's singing (in the rain) sweetheart, Debbie Reynolds. According to Hollywood gossip rags, the death of Mike Todd, best friend to Fisher and husband to Taylor, hit Elizabeth quite hard. Like any best friend would do, Eddie Fisher consoled the grieving widow. Consolation soon became consummation, ending the Fisher-Reynolds union and creating the Fisher-Taylor nuptials in Las Vegas.

#7 A 7.1 earthquake shakes Yellowstone. Much has been made recently about the geothermal nature of Yellowstone National Park and the likelihood of a Super Volcano erupting there in the not so distant future. If the Hebgen Lake earthquake of August 17, 1959 is an indicator of what will herald this cataclysmic event, then I say head for the hills! No, wait, mountains are created by volcanoes and earthquakes -- head for the desert instead. Oops, forget that advice -- America's largest desert is full of earthquake faults! What the heck, hang around and see if Yellowstone gets another land feature like Quake Lake.

#8 Gidget



In addition to Gidget, some of my favorite movies were released in 1959: Pillow Talk, The Shaggy Dog, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Ben Hur, Sleeping Beauty, and Some Like It Hot

#9 Bozo the Clown Premiers on TV. The very first Bozo the Clown show aired on KTLA (channel 5), a local Los Angeles station on January 5, 1959. Along with Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room and Sheriff John, Bozo was an integral part of my early childhood. Did you know that Bozo actually began as a character in a children's book that its creator, Alan Livingston, marketed and sold to Capitol Records in 1946? The Bozo books were immensely popular and in 1949, Livingston began marketing the character for use in product endorsements and programming on independent television stations. Again, Los Angeles carried the torch with the very first televised appearance of Bozo the Clown on KTTV (channel 11, currently the FOX Network). In 1956, Larry Harmon, one of the actors who played the role of Bozo, bought the rights to the character, redesigned the wig and costume so that it more closely resembled the Bozo of the books, developed his own production company, and sold franchises of the character to television stations around the country. The rest, as they say, is children's television history.

#10 Declaration of the Rights of a Child. On November 20, 1959, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared that "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care" and to protect those special needs, declared some universal rights for all children. Among them are (a) the right to a name and a nationality, (b) opportunities to aid in development, (c) free education (through elementary school at the very least), (d) adequate nutrition, housing, recreation, and medical services, (e) protection against neglect, cruelty, and exploitation, and (f) love and understanding. Read the entire document here.

#11 Old Blue Eyes wins his first Grammy Award. The Best Album winner at the 1959 Grammy Awards was none other than Frank Sinatra for Come Dance With Me. Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife" won for Best Record.

#12 Motown record label is founded in Detroit, Michigan. Remember Debbie Reynolds from #6? Well, did you know that Berry Gordy, Motown's founder, originally wanted to call the record label "Tammy" after the famous Debbie Reynolds song from the movie Tammy and the Bachelor?

#13 He's in the Army now. Who? Why, only the most popular heartthrob of all time, Elvis Presley! Interestingly, although he was drafted in 1958, Elvis was still a chart-topper that year with songs like "Don't," "King Creole, " "A Fool Such as I," and "Hard Headed Woman." And when he was discharged in 1960, Elvis returned to the top of the charts with "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," "It's Now or Never," and "Stuck on You" among others.

But 1959 was a completely "dead" year for the King in terms of music. Kinda makes me think of Don McLean's lyrics about "the day the music died."


Take a look at other Thursday Thirteen entries here.

I think I must be the queen of practical gifts. I would much rather receive a gift that I know I will use than one that looks pretty but serves no practical purpose. Culturally, the Amazing Egyptian Dude thinks that he should buy me gold jewelry for every occasion, but I'm not into jewelry and hardly ever wear anything more than my wedding ring. It took about fifteen years to convince him that instead of a necklace or bracelet, I would much rather have some books, a pair of comfy slippers, or some nice smelling bath & body products. To him, these mundane and everyday items aren't gifts; to me, they are the perfect gifts.

Finally, I decided to tell him what gift I wanted and where to get it. For example, last year he got me (ahem) an awesome speaker dock for my iPhone. Ever practical, I cart the speaker along with my laptop so that he can share the music on my phone when we're at the office. Not only was this speaker dock an excellent gift choice, it is a gift that we can enjoy together. This year, he got me (ahem, again) a portable media player. It's got a 1TB drive in it and came with all the hardware necessary to hook it up to the television once it's got all my stuff on it. So now, instead of carrying around gazillions of DVD cases, I can copy them to the drive, hook it up to the TV, and have my own version of video on demand. How amazing is that?! And just imagine how many documentaries this sucker will hold!

My gift arrived yesterday, and I can hardly wait to start playing around with it. First, though, I have to get all the grading done and final grades turned in. Then it will be, watch out world -- she scores big time!

During the night, when I can't sleep, the portable DVD player that sits on my dresser surrounded by piles of DVD cases, is my bestest friend in the whole wide world. I bought it to help keep me entertained during my recovery from brain surgery. As it turns out, I didn't really need it then; however, I make regular use of it now.

Although documentaries typically occupy the hours when I am awake and the rest of my household is asleep, I've recently discovered the joy of boxed set television shows. I don't watch much television, except for American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, so when several students in one of this semester's classes kept recommending that I watch Lost straight through from the first to the fourth seasons, I politely declined. My sister and I had watched the first three episodes of Lost when the show premiered, but it just wasn't interesting to either of us. What possessed me to give in to their advice escapes my memory, but give in I did. Thus was born my current affection for watching TV shows, season by season, from DVDs.

Now that I am current with Lost and awaiting its fifth season premier on January 21, I am now watching Boston Legal. Ali and I both enjoyed The Practice when it was on, so it was nice to see familiar characters on Boston Legal. But there's something else about the show that touches me, and that is the character of Denny Crane. One of the first season episodes reveals that Denny has signs of the early stages of Alzheimer's, an issue that he struggles with from that point forward. Despite Denny's otherwise atrocious behavior, his very human response to the degenerative nature of Alzheimer's is something that I know; it is part of my everyday life.

Between the Chiari and the seizures, I find myself struggling to pull from the recesses of my mind things that I know but can't locate as easily as I used to. Simple words and ideas lurk in the caves and shadows of my mind in Grendelesque fashion, slinking out and retreating at will, as if to show me who is boss. Because I have an incredibly high pain threshold, dealing with the physical pain that comes with Chiari hasn't presented me with nearly the crushing feeling of defeat that the inability to recall words at will has done. This, for me, is the most frustrating aspect of having a degenerative neurological condition.