Lady Gaga

I was never a fan of hers.  Yeah, she's a great singer and her songs are fun to dance to, but she's just way too weird for my liking.  Until I watched her on Oprah.  I was impressed!  For a 25 year old, she is so mature and well grounded.  An exact opposite from what I expected.  Her real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.  Did you know that she was bullied in grade school?  A group of guys threw her in a trash can.  Kids were laughing and pointing at her.  She was humiliated and cried all the way home  She is still traumatized by that incident.  James Rodemeyer, a fan from Buffalo, NY committed suicide at 15.  He was gay and bullied at school and on twitter.  His last tweet was "@ladygaga bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever," on September 18, 2011 just before he was found dead.  She has founded the Born This Way Foundation which focuses on youth empowerment and issues like self confidence, anti-bullying, etc.


She hasn't purchased her own house yet.  All 5 of her grammys are displayed at her parent's house in New York where she grew up.  She is a carbon copy of her mom, but I think mom is prettier.  When her grandfather was dying, she wrote Edge of Glory in just 10 minutes on her piano at her parent's home, with dad at her side, approving the lyrics and melody, over a bottle of tequila.  The song signified her grandfather's imminet transition from this world to the next.  One would have never known. 

She caused controversy in 2010 by playing John Lennon's famous white piano which he played when he sang Imagine.  Here, she is clad in a black lingerie and fishnet stockings.  Beatles fans were infuriated.  Sean Lennon pointed out that pianos were meant to be played and not locked away in a dusty room.  He asked people to lighten up, that life is too short, and that there are enough problems in the world.  Well said, Sean!

Gaga on Lennon's piano.

Lennon gifted the piano to Yoko for her birthday.

Little Gaga, her mama and baby sis.  Cute!

Gaga and mama.

The dreaded flu

I hardly get sick.  You will most likely hear me with allergies or some coughing but that's due to my asthma which is pretty much unavoidable.  The last time I got the flu, my kids were still in grade school and now, one's in college and the other is done.  Well, the bug hit me unexpectedly last Wednesday and totally knocked me out.  How could a seemingly innocent looking virus cause total havoc to the human body?  It felt like a truck ran me over and I was burning like mad!  Two days later, I was actually in tears because I was in so much pain and no amount of advil could relieve me from my misery.  I was ready to take the meds I was prescribed years ago for my shingles, for heaven's sake!


This is what the blasted virus does when it attacks your body.

 

Pretty interesting and a bit disturbing, isn't it?  Thank God for my trusty antibodies, 5 days later, I am finally feeling a whole lot better.  That was 5 days of ordering take out for everyone and popping advils.  When you're sick, you're never in your right state of mind.  On my 5th day of recovery, I finally read the bottle and it says not to take more than 6 advils within 24 hours or it may cause stomach bleeding.  Good grief!  They need to post that in bold letters right in front of the bottle!  I must have been popping about 10 a day!  Maybe that's what was making me sick!  Additionally, your tastebuds go and nothing tastes right.  I miss home cooked meals.  Never thought I'd live to hear myself say that.

I was glued to this for 4 days.

Now, I'm well enough to pay the bills which is making me sick again.

I wish I could take an extra day off tomorrow but I really need to get back to work.  Why is it that you think you feel well enough to return to work, the moment to get there, the pain comes right back and you wish you should've stayed home?  Next year, I promise to take that flu shot offered at work.  No excuse.  No one deserves to feel like they were run over by a truck.  

Don't you hate it when

You use that plastic grocery bag and the tiny piece from the top comes off and falls on the floor or gets stuck on you.

You're ready to prepare a dish and you're out of one ingredient.

You're going out and the outfit you had in mind is in the hamper.

You're craving for chocolate but you already had the last piece a few days ago.

You're bored and everyone you call is not picking up the phone.

That one and only important shot you took came out blurry.

You really have to use the bathroom at the movies but the unimportant scene never comes.

The store runs out of your size and the closest store that carries it is 100 miles away.

You turn on the radio and your favorite song is coming to an end.

Your flight is delayed and your cell phone is ready to die. 

You get to a restaurant and the wait is 45 minutes long.  You know it will take about the same amount of time to go elsewhere and be seated, so you're forced to wait.

You throw a piece of paper or a tissue in the trash and it lands right on the top edge.

You squeeze out the remaining dishwashing liquid or shampoo and it's not enough to do the job.

You drive home and getting out of your car, your home phone is ringing.

You're reviewing an Excel file and when you exit, it asks you if you want to save the changes you made and you know you didn't make any changes? 

It takes forever to find the date on a receipt.