Relax, Don't Do It

I had an exhausting week filled with lots of headaches, stuffiness and sleep deprivation. Even though I got my B12 injection and took a massive dose of vitamin D, I never experienced that jolt of energy I so desperately needed.

John stopped over last week to rummage through my basement for furniture and household accessories so that he can stage his sister’s house for sale. As Jordan and John’s boys played Wii Sports, we dug through my musty basement looking for comforters and shams, lamps, furniture, art work and accessories. I rarely go in to my basement -- my house is old and it is simply a place to store stuff – but as I stood there with John I realized just how much shit I have. I still have boxes from high school – yearbooks, pictures, folded up notes and a graduation tassel; and college paraphernalia – scrapbooks, phone numbers written on napkins and pamphlets advertising local bands. Memories from a lifetime ago.

I spent the rest of my long weekend doing virtually nothing. Seriously. I tried to talk Jordan into venturing to Lake Como or the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden but she was just as lazy as me. I feel guilty that I didn’t take advantage of the time by doing house projects but I did squeeze in a couple much-needed naps and I must say I feel much better.

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With all the Michael Jackson coverage on TV lately and hearing his songs so often, it’s made me crave music from the 80’s again. I grabbed some old Prince CD’s and as the sound surged I felt my blood start to flow. Oh, how I love me some Prince! For the most part I never like the more popular, radio-played songs but rather prefer the B-sides, throw in old, rarely-heard Prince and I’m in heaven!

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I was surprised to hear Sarah Palin announce that she not only wouldn’t seek re-election, but would also be finish out her current term 1.5 years early. I am left to wonder if there is a scandal on the horizon or if she is preparing a run in 2012. I do think her ego is large enough and her naiveté grand enough that she may feel a resume filled with a run as mayor and a partial term as governor in the least populated state is enough to make her eligible for the Presidency. Time will tell, but I doubt any of her Republican allies will consider choosing her as a running mate any time soon.

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Speaking of politics, eight months, $51 million dollars and only 312 votes finally brought Minnesota its second Senator. Even though career politician Norm Coleman vowed to take the fight all the way to the nation’s Supreme Court, after a number of local courts and an unanimous decision was cast by our own judges, he concluded it was time to concede. Frankly, I believe that he finally read the newspaper. People of this state, even his own supporters, had grown angry at the circus he had created by spending taxpayer’s money counting and recounting the ballots, especially when each recount came out in his opponents favor. Personally, I feel he was scared. He’s been in MN politics for so many years (I’d like to think only based on name recognition) and it didn’t help that he voted with George W Bush 98% of the time either. I am curious where he will land though. Right now he’s stationed a little too close to me. His highly-mortgaged house is nearby and even though I’ve seen him at the dry cleaners and the grocery store, I’ve never jumped at the opportunity to meet him (unlike my groupie episode with Mayor Rybak last week).

Coleman has always had national aspirations, but he’s also had plenty of girlfriends and a wife who lives in California. I doubt he and his closet filled with skeletons are exactly what the Republican party is looking for at this point.

Looking into the future, the scariest scenario would be Pawlenty as President, Palin as Vice President and Coleman for governor. That little group would send shivers down my spine and prove that there is something worse than a Bush/Cheney White House!

FINALLY!

My 2-Cents

I grew up listening to the Jackson 5. I'm a child of the 80's for cripes sake so, of course, I bought Thriller and sang along to every song. I was mesmerized by Michael's dance moves and the natural rhythm that grew within, but 'ol Michael’s lost me when he transformed from a handsome black man into a grotesque white woman.

He had always spoken of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father (and I feel that making a 5-year old work to support his family is abuse too) but when he started messing with his face in such an extreme and tormented way I felt it was an outward sign that all was not well. Don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with a little nip/tuck but what Michael did was something on a whole other realm. I really think he hated himself. There’s no denying his talent but I truly believe he was a plagued human being.

He began performing at the age of five. Who does that to a child? He and his brothers were produced to fulfill the ambitions of their father and were whipped into submission in order to accomplish that goal. Soon they became the family’s main source of income and as their popularity grew, the more they secluded themselves from the outside world. It seems Michael didn’t have any real friends, at least none that aren’t on the payroll, and it's obvious their intent was not pure. I’m sure he had a Peter Pan syndrome. Who wouldn’t growing up the way that he did? But I don’t think that provides an excuse for his behavior and the way he lived his life.

I have no doubt that he molested children. He had an electronic monitoring system installed outside his bedroom door so he could tell when people were approaching. He admits to sharing a bed with children other than his own. How many of us would be okay with this happening to our own children? Even after paying $20 million to one boy’s family and undergoing a court battle with another he was still was obsessive with children, all boys. If a man like this lived in our neighborhood and wasn’t a celebrity, we'd keep a suspecting eye on him and tell our children to stay away, yet parents readily surrendered their children to Michael Jackson even after the molestation accusations. I don’t get it.

I wasn’t surprised by the death of Michael Jackson. The last time I saw him on TV was during his 2005 molestation trial and it was obvious that he was out of it and most certainly medicated. He went to court in his pajamas, needed to be supported in order to walk and jumped atop a van and danced for the crowds. Yet no one in his inner circle tried to help him.

There is no doubting his talent and the impact he has had on music as a whole but in reality people did not want to work with him because of his reputation. It's amazing to me now that people are coming out of the woodwork to praise and eulogize him. So the question is, just because someone dies does that take away all the bad stuff?

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Bernie Madoff has received 150 years in prison. Did he deserve such a tough sentence? Yeah, probably…he committed fraud and screwed up a lot of lives but ultimately what he did was steal money. No one died. I don’t’ mean to minimize his crime but I am appalled that murderers, molesters and rapists routinely receive no more than a slap on the wrists (if that) while bank robbers and Ponzi schemers are locked up for hundreds of years. What does this say about our society? It’s okay to beat, molest, rape and kill, just don’t pilfer money?! When did the monetary become more important than human life?

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You know, I don’t understand politicians. Mark Sanford was once considered a McCain running mate and a possibility for the 2012 presidency. I am always amazed that people jeopardize their marriages and careers for a little nookie. And why is it that they are only apologetic after they get caught? Does the power of office give them no self-control? Although Sanford insisted that he was working on his marriage, his wife asked him to move out two-weeks ago since he wanted to continue to see his mistress. HUH? Can someone explain to me how one can work on a marriage while flying back and forth to Argentina to get it on with some South American hottie? Such skewed thinking. There’s no doubt in my mind that he was trying to have his cake and eat it too, while saving his reputation and keeping his job. I guess his wife was supposed to just sit by and accommodate his needs. I do give her credit for not standing by her man during his confessional news conference though. She was one of the few tortured political wives who wasn’t standing shoulder to shoulder with her husband while he spoke publicly of his indiscretions (think Dina Matos during James McGreevey's “I’m a gay American” speech and Silda Spitzer during Eliot Spitzer’s hooker admission).

But Sanford will not shut his mouth. Each day he seems to make another speech, commenting further on his Argentinian lover, other women with whom he has "crossed the line" and how he's hoping to fall back into love with his wife while professing that he can now die knowing he has found his soul mate...and it's not his wife.

All three of these men are examples of greed, power, money and self-indulgence. How does one lose himself in such a way?

I remember staying at a 5-star hotel in Orlando. It was over the holidays and I thought I'd indulge my family this one time. Surprisingly, I felt awkward; I hated having people with white gloves holding the door for me, retrieving my car, showing me my room and handing me towels for the pool. Of course, they were all working for tips but I tried to find ways to avoid these extravagances. I would try to squeeze as much as possible in to our days so I wouldn't have to call the front desk and ask them to have my car ready more than once a day. More than anything I just wanted to park my own car!

What it comes down to is that I was uneasy having people wait on me and I wondered how others became accustomed to it. It doesn't seem, however, that Michael, Bernie or Mark had any problems with it.