Hollyweird and Raleighwood

Tales from Hollyweird, found at First Amendment Center.org.

"They lurk in bushes, camp out in cars and hover in helicopters. Some are brazen enough to openly brandish their cameras, like old Western gunslingers. (snip) ....a new California law went into effect (1/1/06) that increases penalties against overly aggressive photographers — dubbed "stalkerazzi" — who forcefully thrust their cameras into famous faces or crash their car into a celebrity's vehicle. They'll now be liable for three times the damages they inflict, plus lose any payments their published photos might earn. Publishers can also be held liable. (snip) The business is driven by money," Elterman said. "The guys who take the pictures don't care how they get the photo because they have nothing to lose."”

Famous celebrities are now hiring people to protect them from over-zealous stalkerazzi who invade their privacy, trespass, endanger their safety, and then are rewarded monetarily for doing so.

Hmmm. Now this, from Raleigh's News & Observer.

“North Carolina has put the future of its new lottery in the hands of a former head of the New Mexico Lottery who has helped launch lotteries in three other states.”

That’s right; North Carolina is finally getting an education lottery. Yes, that’s what they are calling it.

So, Hollyweird and Raleigh actually do have something in common.

Gambling.

In Hollyweird, you gamble with your life. In Raleigh, you can gamble for education.

No wonder Clay wanted to come back!

An Ode

Spikey, flat, au naturale,
Sometimes there is no rationale;
Red or brown or blondish tips,
It sticks out or up it flips;
Sometimes short, sometimes too long,
Either way you can’t go wrong;
The hair's amazing, that’s the clincher,
Every day is a new adventure.

OK I'm done. Bring on the music!

Hair Today....Songs Tomorrow

What's that sound I hear? Sounds like a buzz.

Clay's new look is all the rage today, but tomorrow (figuratively speaking) we'll all be talking about the songs!

One of Clay's greatest strengths, besides his ebullient and expressive voice, is that he seems to be able to change while remaining true to himself. Let's face it, his looks have changed twenty times over since his AI audition over three years ago.

But his focus has never wavered. Clay once said he wanted to win influence, not fame. His influence has done nothing but grown, from his ability to create awareness of issues, to raise money for UNICEF and other causes, as well as to bring media interest every time he turns around. With everything he has experienced during his career, his priorities have not changed. He still has a heart for children, a passion for inclusion, and a need to share his message. He still finds great joy in singing, and performing.

He remains true to his statements early in his career, that he will not discuss his private life, he will not do things or sing songs he is not comfortable with, and he will define his own type of pop star.

Why does Clay create such interest in the media, both good and bad? Perhaps because he is an agent of change. Some people do resent and fear change, however, I don't think he's out to change the music industry, or the nature of pop culture in general. I do believe he is adamant about offering music fans an alternative; popular music sung beautifully, without bowing to trends or going with the flow. He is not,and will never be, your normal pop star. His voice remains clear, and true and strong.

In an interview just after season two of American Idol, he was asked by Billboard's Chuck Taylor what he thinks about the critics who say he "doesn't look like a pop star." Clay replied, "I'm gonna define my own pop star." And he is.

Congratulations to Taylor Hicks, the new American Idol! Make it work for you buddy.

Here's a little flashback. Enjoy!



[clay aiken]

He's Baaaack!

>

Clay is back - With a Bang!

©Kevork Djansezian/AP

Having a Ball

This weekend, I'm doing something I haven't done in quite a while.

What I'm doing can be done all alone, but I'm doing it with some friends. It's cheap too. One dollar. I fully expect to be be a little sore afterwards, but it will be worth it. In fact, it will be a ball.

A bowling ball! I love bowling, it's so elemental.

A ball. Ten pins. A wooden lane. Organic!

Bowling alleys are loud, smelly places. They smell like feet and beer. But still, the environment is appealing somehow. The last time I went bowling, the counter guy said "Do you want to be near the bar, the bathroom, or the NASCAR race (on TV)?" Now really, what other activity offers such a hospitable welcome?

And, it's cheap. On Sundays before 5 pm anyway. One dollar per game. One dollar! I wasn't aware you could have that kind of fun for one dollar. I made a note of it.

Afterward, I will feel a little achy in odd places. Butt cheeks, wrists, shins. But it will be worth it.

I saw someone once with a T shirt that said "I don't know whether to go bowling or jab my eyes out!" Heck, that's an easy one - I'm going bowling.

Why Limit Yourself?

In a recent interview, NPR’s Frank Stasio asked Grammy award winning musician, performer, producer and composer Branford Marsalis if he ever had any trepidation covering such great jazz classics as John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.”

His reply was “absolutely not.”

While he has many compositions to his credit, several of Marsalis’ best-known recordings and performances are of someone else’s material.

Marsalis continued, “That’s what they’re there for. I discovered…that there was some idea in the music industry that you avoid comparison to great musicians by avoiding their material completely, thus insuring your own quest for individuality.”

“But, comparisons are inevitable. So, I just go for the best. I don’t believe in skirting them. If we fall short, we fall short. You just give it your best. I’d rather be out there going for the best than sitting on the sidelines.”

This part of the interview made me think of Clay, and his recent message about the upcoming CD featuring several "cover" songs. I'll admit I wasn’t overly thrilled about this bit of news. At first. However, interpreting existing compositions is a time-honored tradition in the music industry.

While it’s true that many artists choose to release cover songs later in their career (Sheryl Crow, Madonna, Martina McBride, Rod Stewart,) such diverse artists as Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville were known as interpretive artists early in their career.

Linda once said in an interview that her success was based on singing the best songs written by the best songwriters. Many great songwriters depend on the vocal talents of expressive singers to showcase their work. Here is an excerpt from another interview with Linda.

Q: I wondered if it was a conscious choice to focus on being a singer and an interpreter rather than a storyteller of your own stories.

A: It wasn't a choice; it just is what I am. I'm a singer not a composer, you know I think they're two very different gifts and I think that it's unusual that the 70s was such a singer/songwriter market, in the '50s nobody ever would have commented on that, I mean nobody every commented that Ella Fitzgerald wasn't a writer, for instance.

Q: Nobody comments that Barbra Streisand's not a writer either. It's just probably the community of musicians that you came from.

A: Right. I was immersed in that community, but that was an unusual bubble I think.

Q: But you drew off their work, anyway.

A: Yeah, it was an unusual thing. And a lot of singers came to writing, like Bonnie's [Raitt] writing stuff now, but she never wrote before, but she's come to writing stuff now, and that's really fabulous. Emmy's writing — Emmy always wrote well, but she wrote infrequently. But man, she wrote some great stuff for this new record.

Q: When you're a beautiful singer and you have access to any work you want —

A: Yeah, why limit yourself?

Why limit yourself indeed. Clay has his entire life to sing – new songs, love songs, adult pop, ballads and previously recorded material as well. The songs on Clay’s CD, will showcase his vocal abilities; of that I have no doubt. The songs, whichever cover songs they may be, will be chosen with care.

He'll have the cake, and I wish him the icing as well. Which is that the songs are rewarding for him to sing, fun to perform and maybe even radio friendly too!

An effective vocalist can give deeper meaning to the lyrics of a song. He or she can bring a warm intimacy to the performance, making it personal to the listener. A singer’s interpretation of a song is a gift to the listener, and Clay never fails to deliver on that gift.

This CD, only his third, is just another step in the journey. A pop music CD is not a manifesto, a cure for cancer or world poverty. It’s just a collection of songs, an opportunity for a singer to sing and the listener to be sung to.

Whatever Clay sings, one thing is for sure - you’ll know you’ve been sung to.

It may be a throwback to the golden age of pop music to focus on vocal artistry. Perhaps Clay will use this opportunity to make the skill of vocal artistry fresh and interesting again. Considering he'll be touring in support of the CD, I suspect we will get some favorites and some surprises – whether in song choice, presentation, interpretation or production. Maybe he’ll take a sweeping ballad and present it in a minimalist way, or a happy love song and make it a song of obsession. Who knows?

Imagine the possibilities.

And never limit yourself.

Scruffy and the Pussycats

Scruffy...


...and the pussycats. AKA the Mod Squad: one black, one white, one gray!
Miss Kitty

Sally

Sweet Boy

Sometimes annoying, often entertaining, but always loved. Well, most of the time. But, I'm still grateful for them. Even when they puke up hairballs or bring live bunnies into the house for us to rescue.

Grab the Giddy

It's past midnight, it's raining like the dickens outside and I'm wired for sound.

I've been watching some prime video tonight, of Clay Aiken's Jukebox Tour from 2005.

It occurs to me that this show has CLAY written all over it. The snark, the humor, the irony, the heart, THE FUN! It’s the Clay Aiken Show everyone! How would you like to see this on TV every week? I'd watch it.

What other artist could sing the shiznit out of everyone from Michael Jackson to the GooGoo Dolls? Who else could channel Elvis one minute and the Monkees the next? Who else would have the temerity to sing the Archies and Simon and Garfunkel in the same show? Name one other singer who would dare to sing the sweet Christopher Cross ballad ‘Sailin’ and follow it with MC Hammer.

Who? No one else. Only Clay. He is one of a kind. He delivers exactly what he says, how he says and when he says. And delivers it with style, humility and passion. He’s a goofball and a sexy man and a smart cookie, all rolled up. He’s real.

Then, the icing on the cake; a medley of his own songs, delivered in such a powerful way that they stand up next to five decades worth of classics, and it all fits. He works to make it right, to make it fun.

For myself, as a fan, that's what it's all about; the enjoyable experience of a live concert, making new friends, having fun. Some people seem to want to change that, but I won't let them.

I came upon this in the memory book of a work colleague who passed last year. I’ll share it here, because it applies.

"Your true character is revealed by the clarity of your convictions, the choices you make, and the promises you keep. Hold strongly to your principles and refuse to follow the currents of convenience. What you say and do defines who you are, and who you are...you are forever." -Unknown

Forget the critics, the haters, the naysayers, the hangers-on. Never mind the unsavory characters, the uninformed, the interlopers. Ignore the envious, the unenlightened. They are nothing to me; they have no power over my peace of mind.

Remember how much fun it can be? Remember feeling giddy?
I'm not letting anyone take that away from me.

Grab the giddy, and own it sisters! Grab it, and hold on tight.


video by spotlightlover

Weather or Not

It's almost hurricane season. Hurricane Fran came inland as far as Raleigh NC back in 1996. My car was totalled, we lost 30 fully grown trees, and received a five figure insurance settlement for all the damage.

It is said that many people love NC because we still do have all four seasons. But to some, those seasons are ice, heat, pollen and hurricanes! Today however, was a beautiful NC day...skies of Carolina blue, cotton candy clouds and a warm breeze blowing.

Most people I know here in NC have a love/hate relationship with Mother Nature. Me, I love the wind. To a point. I even love the rain. When I'm not out in it.

Just recently, it began raining a downpour while the sun was shining brilliantly. It was somewhat beautiful, and looked like this.



And one day, just after yet another spring rain, the sun burst forth and I caught a rainbow in my backyard. So low, I could have touched it.



But yeah, I do love living here in NC. We do have all the seasons, after all.

And then some!

Faith

It’s a decision. To have it, or not, is an option one can embrace or deny. Your choice.

By definition, faith is a confident belief which is not based on logical proof or intelligent data. It's based on nothing really. Nothing but heart.

By definition, faith means being loyal to, respecting and believing the words or ideas of a person, a concept, or a belief. In other words, believing without proof, but not without reason.

In reality, having faith is being in possession of a precious treasure; a trusting acceptance, an unswerving devotion, an emotionally charged confidence and assurance. Faith is a spiritual process.

Feeling faith makes something, or someone, valid to you. It’s an honor to the person or concept you believe in. A great honor. A gift.

Faith looks forward, never back. It's not arrogant, but humble.

Faith is hopefulness. It just is. You just do.

The ability to have conviction comes from our life experiences. Having once lost it, faith is worth searching for, fighting for and gaining back.

Faith is a treasure. Something, or someone, worthy of our faith is a gift to each of us. Something, or someone, who has earned our faith is worthy of the gift back of our own faith.

Earning it is a gift to us, giving it is a gift from us.

Faith is a commitment. It’s a promise of respect for someone else’s worth.

Trust and faith create a sense of safety, of comfort, a sense of understanding that our power is always limited by the control others have in our course.

Trust and faith create an environment in which those in whom we are faithful are given the ability to foster their own relationships with others, and to manage and master their own destiny, with our support. With our faith in their actions, and in their heart.

Blind faith. It doesn’t have to be. Not if we enter into it with our eyes, and our hearts, wide open.

It’s a risk, sure. But one most often worth taking, even if it means stepping out of our own comfort zone.

But most of all, faith is the ability to believe whatever it takes to get you through.

You gotta have faith in something. I have faith that the earth will keep spinning, my dog will continue to shred my doors, and Clay's CD will be released this year! How about you?

Knowledge is Power

As mentioned below, I am currently unemployed.

So, I thought I would take a class of some kind; something that would be helpful for career enhancement, and add some flash to a resume.

I went googling, and learned about a certification called MOUS: Microsoft Office User Specialist. I am somewhat proficient with Word, Excel, Power Point. Just enough to be dangerous. But probably not enough to pass the certification test to become a MOUS.

The test itself is offered through the NC State Personnel Development Center. When I went to their website, I found what appears to be a motherlode of handy dandy informational and tutorial links.

Awesome Online Informational Computing Resources!

Maybe you'll see something interesting there too. Don't forget to come up for air!

Live 8 Lives On

You know how some blogs have those little emoticons you can select to show your mood? It's like they are like little dwarf buttons..."Happy, Sleepy, Bored, Mad, Sick, Excited, Confused"...and the ubiquitous "Not Bad!"

I wonder why there is never a button for "Bitchy" or "Sassy?" Just curious.

Topic: Live 8. Last summer, millions of people around the world watched as such colorful artists as Pink Floyd, Green Day, Deep Purple and Maroon 5 rocked us in our living rooms and brought awareness of the G8 Summit and the mission of ending poverty in Africa and many third world countries.

There was some disdain for the coverage provided by MTV and VH1, as they cut short many performances for commericials and talked over some of the more sublime moments.

So, in consolation, a week later they aired 10 hours of Live 8 without the inane chatter of MTV talking heads and commercial free. And it was glorious.

My favorite performances were by Pink Floyd and The Who, both of whom I've seen live, both proving that doing copious amounts of drugs in your youth may affect your looks and your voice, but not necessarily your ability to remember lyrics of songs nearly 40 years old.

Seriously, I had cold chills while listening to "Wish You Were Here," and watched amazed as Pete Townsend ripped the guitar riffs on "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Apparently I'm not the only one. DigitalSpy.Co.UK reports:

"A number of artists who performed at the Live 8 gig at the weekend have witnessed a dramatic increase in their CD sales. Sales of Pink Floyd's 'Best Of' album have risen by a huge 1343%, while The Who have seen their album sales increase by a similarly substantial 863%."

Rock on.

Oh, and while you're rocking on, please don't forget the children in Africa. Just think if the money spent on all those CDs was instead spent on such things as UNICEF programs.

UNICEF UGANDA DARFUR HORN OF AFRICA

Just think.

Mom's Day

Isn't every day Mother's Day? I guess not.

Hi Mom! Just kidding!

I read this hilarious blog about shopping for Mom's Day, and I had to share.

Finally I stop in the card section. Yes, something actually for mom -- that’s the reason we went out after all. I found the perfect card for her:

Front is three scenes of a cartoon mom and young daughter using "talk bubbles."
First scene:
Daughter: Tongue piercing?
Mom: NO!
Second scene:
Daughter: Tattoo.
Mom: NO!
Third scene:
Daughter: Run off to follow a pop star?
Mom: NO!

Thanks to blogger Too Much! for the laughs!

Here's the thing about mothers. I know there may be exceptions, but generally, the greatest thing about mothers is that they are the only people in the world who will always love you, no matter what. No matter how many times you lose, no matter how many times you fail, no matter how many times you let them down.

I've learned lots of stuff from my Mom. The number one thing is that I am not her, and she is not me.

Number two would be that when I was young, and she always said "when you get older, you'll know I was right;" well, she was.

The third thing is that if you want someone to trust you, you have to trust them back. A very valuable lesson I carry with me every day.

Oh, and one more thing I learned from my Mom - to laugh a lot. Life is pretty ridiculous much of the time, when you think about it.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!! Thanks for always loving me, no matter what. I love you too.

Gratitude

As I end my second week of freedom...er...unemployment, I realize how blessed I really am. First, because I was able to make a gracious exit from a miserable job, with no burnt bridges and a generous severance package which enables me to avoid jumping into yet another miserable job.

Secondly, because...hello! It's springtime in NC!

Thirdly, because I am amazed how many wonderful friends and what a great family I have. Whether it's karma or what; I don't know. But I'm grateful.

Someone once gave me a little book called “14,000 Things to be Happy About.” It includes such things as “a champagne picnic up on the roof under the stars,” “wide beaches,” and “holding hands.”

Well, yeah.

But I recently came across another list, one that made my own mind start churning up old memories as well as remembering recent good ones.

This list included the following happy things; “boyfriends who let you put barrettes in their hair,” and “eating olives off your fingertips.”

Ooh, yes, I’ve done both of those things and what fun it is to remember them!

So, I decided to include in every few blog entries I manage to write from now on, at least one thing I am grateful for, happy about, or that makes me smile. Even if it's a grumpy blog. These things may not be things you would list, but they are mine, so there you go.

Give it a try. Try to mention a few things of your own from time to time; things that make you go “yeah………” with a smile on your face and a faraway look in your eyes.

Here’s my list for today.

• a puppy lick
  
• a pedicure that includes a foot massage
  
• hearing someone snort when they laugh
  
• Clay
  

What, you didn’t think I would forget Clay, did you?

Never.

In NC, It's Beach Time!

It's getting to be that time here in NC. Beach time!

I know some people in other parts of the country have their own terminology for visiting the area where the sand meets the sea. "To the shore," "the coast," "down the shore," but in NC we go to the beach!

I remember last summer when Clay Aiken vacationed on NC's Outer Banks, then he wrote about it in his blog on his official fan club website. Good heavens...you would have thought he discovered the place! Well, it just so happens I was at the beach that same weekend; only no one really cared. LOL! I wasn't at the Outer Banks though, just the Crystal Coast. Darn my luck!

The NC coast is amazingly beautiful and diverse. Wild ponies can be found on several coastal islands; Carrot Island near Beaufort, and even the small island of Shackleford near the heavily developed Atlantic Beach area. Their story is an amazing one. Read about it at Shackleford Horses.com.

NC has 10 lighthouses, including the famous Cape Hatteras light, the tallest in the nation. See them by clicking Lighthouse Friends.

Want to send someone a postcard from the NC coast? Go to NC Coast.com.

What's on Your Soundtrack?

I love music.

I remember my first "stereo HIFI record player," a little blue thing with detachable speakers. I thought I was the stuff when I got that record player. My first album was the soundtrack to Woodstock. My parents, who always wanted to provide whatever my little heart desired, within their means of course, gave it to me one year for Christmas.

Halfway through "The Fish Cheer" that sucker was off that little blue record player and in the top of their closet.

I joined the band in sixth grade, so I had the distinct pleasure of spending my formative middle and high school years as a band geek. We got to go to Europe for three weeks, so yeah, I didn't mind being a band geek. We had majorettes in the marching band, and I was the lead twirler my senior year. Good times! In Tennessee, we had an "all state" band, several actually, with green, red and blue categories, blue signifying the top players in the state. I played in the blue band for three years of high school. Yes, I was serious.

I love the German composers. Ludwig von rocks! I spent some time being addicted to the film "A Clockwork Orange" just for the music. The Strauss marches and waltzes and Ludwig Von's Moonlight Sonata, Ode to Joy and Fifth Symphony - love. I'm a plebian classical music lover, but that's OK. Everybody's gotta love something!

I love bluegrass music. I've seen Doc Watson at least ten times and I even own a banjo. To no avail! Old time music and the high lonesome sound was made famous by such stalwart musicians as Doc, Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley and the Carter Family. The Carter Family came from Hiltons VA, just across the state line from my hometown in TN. My grandfather used to sit on the knee of Maybelle Carter, while she sang to him.

My favorite orchestral composition is "Adagio for Strings" by American composer Samuel Barber. I first heard it in the film "Platoon," and spent forever trying to find out what it was and where to get it. It's hauntingly beautiful, and creates a mood simultaneously melancholy and joyous. Truly magical.

Now, don't laugh. I love acoustic new age music. If you are curious about it, check out Michael Hedges, Pat Metheny Group or Charlie Hunter. Or even better, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Bela plays the banjo. New age banjo. Open your mind. You may be surprised!

I did disco. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I grew up on the Stones, Who, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Steely Dan, Santana. Paul Simon, The Police, Bonnie Raitt. I've seen them all in concert.

In the 80s, I listened to lots of techno and some pop. By pop, I mean The Pretenders, B52s, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, Annie Lennox - love! I have everything by Elton John. Adult pop, not like today's pop music.

Not all of which is bad though. I like Coldplay and Beck. I like obscure pop artists like Matthew Sweet, Jonatha Brooke and Michael Penn. I love Sheryl Crow's music - it's quite mindless, but poppy and fun. Mindless can be a good thing at times.

Stevie Ray Vaughn was a god. Saw him live too, right in the 'Dort Narena' in Raleigh where Clay Aiken played last October. I cried when I learned he died in a plane crash. The sky has taken many an outstanding musician.

In the 90s, I grew to love the old U2 albums, and Sting. I love the intricate simplicity of U2 and the complex sensibility of Sting.

Which brings me now to Clay. So many artists, groups, bands, whatever - they have the music but not the voice. But Clay, he has the voice; now, he just needs the music.

I will wait forever for that next CD, if it takes that long to get the music right.

I want real music. Sung by Clay. The right music will make him happy to sing it, and that will show in the end product. Perhaps it will then reveal to him the true importance of his gift.

For all he wants to make a difference, and for all his work with TBAF, UNICEF, RMHC, Toys for Tots and YSA, he can also make a mighty, mighty difference in so many people's lives with just his music, just his voice.

Music is magic, music is love. A note, a phrase set to music - it can bring you to tears, give you peace, swell your heart with joy. It can carry you through times of grief and loss. Our music is the soundtrack of our lives. It can heal you, give you clarity, show you the way.

Music can change lives. Clay has changed lives with his music, with the wonder of his voice, with the sincerity and the truth of it. I think he knows this, but he may not be comfortable believing it. Yet.

My wish is that he learns to embrace the importance of it. My wish is that he understands the power of the music.

I feel it. My wish is that he feels it too.

Not-An-Interview

I may have mentioned down below somewhere that I had never really had a job interview. Not a real one anyway.

Well, I still haven't. But I did have a "meeting" today with the general manager of my previous employer's largest competitor.

He actually called me on the last day I worked, and the conversation was somewhat humorous. It went like this.

GM: "Is this Pamela X?"

Wrong last name. So, I said,

ME: "No, but this is Pamela Z!"

GM: "Well, that was awkward."

I thought it was funny. Then he said,

GM: "Is this your last day of work? If not, then this is really awkward!"

I said it was. Then he said,

GM: "I know you are busy, and can't really talk, but here's my name and number and please give me a call next week; I'd like to talk to you."

I did. Then, I met with him today, and he was very nice and personable. They have no openings at this time, but he wants me to call him first before I accept an offer elsewhere. Nice.

Actually, that's a good thing, because I'm not looking right now. I need to take the summer off. I already have a vacation planned after all. Bought and paid for.



I'm going to Graceland! Graceland! Memphis, TN!

An Excellent Obituary

This is an actual obituary that appeared in the Raleigh, NC News & Observer on Sunday, July 10, 2005.

"On June 3, 2005 at 10:45 p.m. in Memphis, Tennessee, Dorothy Gibson Cully, 86, died peacefully, while in the loving care of her two favorite children, Barbara and David. All of her breath leaked out.

The mother of four children, grandmother to 11, great-grandmother to nine, devoted wife for 56 years to the late Ralph Chester Cully and a true friend to many, Dot had been active as a volunteer in the Catholic Church and other community charities for much of the past 25 years.

She was born the second child of six in 1919 as Frances Dorothy Gibson, daughter to Kathleen Heard Gibson and Calvin Hooper Gibson, an inventor best known as the first person since the Middle Ages to calculate the arcane lead-to-gold formula. Unable to actually prove this complex theory scientifically, and frustrated by the cruel conspiracy of the so-called "scientific community" working against his efforts, he ultimately stuck his head in a heated gas oven with a golden delicious apple propped in his mouth. Miraculously, the apple was saved for the evening dessert. Calvin was not.

Native Marylanders and long time Baltimore, Kent Island and Ocean City residents, Ralph and Dot later resided in Lakeland, Florida and Virginia Beach, Virginia. Several years after Ralph's death, Dot moved to Raleigh in 2001, where she lived with her son, David.

At the time of her death, Dot was visiting her daughter, Carol in Memphis. Carol and her husband, Ron, away from home attending a "very important conference" at a posh Florida resort, rushed home 10 days later after learning of the death. Dot's other children, dutifully at their mother's side helping with the normal last minute arrangements - hospice notification, funeral parlor notice, revising the last will, etc. - happily picked up the considerable slack of the absent former heiress.

Dot is warmly remembered as a generous, spiritually strong, resourceful, tolerant and smart woman, who was always ready to help and never judged others or their shortcomings. Dot always found time to knit sweaters, sew quilts and send written notes to the family children, all while working a full time job, volunteering as Girl Scout leader and donating considerable time to local charities and the neighborhood Catholic Church.

Dot graduated from Eastern High School at 15, worked in Baltimore full time from 1934 to 1979, beginning as a factory worker at Cross & Blackwell and retiring after 30 years as property manager and controller for a Baltimore conglomerate, Housing Engineering Company, all while raising four children, two of who are fairly normal.

An Irishwoman proud of and curious about her heritage, she was a voracious reader of historical novels, particularly those about the glories and trials of Ireland. Dot also loved to travel, her favorite destination being Eire's auld sod, where she dreamed of the magic, mystery and legend of the Emerald Isle.

Dot Cully is survived by her sisters, Ginny Torrico in Virginia, Marian Lee in Florida and Eileen Adams in Baltimore; her brother, Russell Gibson of Fallston, Maryland; her children, Barbara Frost of Ocean City, Maryland, Carol Meroney of Memphis, Tennessee, David Cully of Raleigh, North Carolina and Stephen Cully of Baltimore, Maryland.

Contributions to the Wake County (NC) Hospice Services are welcomed.

Opinions about the details of this obit are not [welcome?], since Mom would have liked it this way."

I think it's an excellent obituary.

Everybody Dance Now!

Free At Last

OK, it's done. Friday was my last day.

It was nice, really. Everyone took me to lunch, they gave me some beautiful flowers, a yummy Italian strawberry cream cake, and an awesome set of wine glasses.

Also, thirty six weeks of severance pay. : )

I didn't cry, or get upset, or feel sad, or anything.

It was time.

Now, where's that tour schedule Clay? I need to plan my year!

Clay Aiken