Waking from a dream that Hillary Clinton was President.

I’m so glad for these wonderfully minded people advocating for elephants. Thank you for what you do and for letting others know the truth of the pain these great creatures are forced to endure. I have no idea why or how it happened to me, but since I was very young I had this sense about elephants that is mentioned here. The one time I went to a circus I left in tears during the elephant show, and refused to return, ever attend a circus again, or to visit zoos that keep elephants. There is so much pain for them and it is obvious to me. When I hear of the elephants that attack their trainers my inclination is to cheer; then I think of the enormous pain that led them to the action, which is actually just too saddening to enjoy any celebration about. I had no idea Lily Tomlin was involved with this project, but it doesn’t surprise me. From her Laugh-In days I had a sense about her too! And she’s never disappointed.

I’m glad to see that there is tech talk. I am one of those closet geeks, and these past few months I have about driven myself crazy with attempting to replace my 5- year old Sony laptop. The reason is because there is so much available, and so much I want to do—-and so many things consumers have to watch out for when making an investment -purchase. I bought my laptop before they were calling them a ” desktop replacement”, but that’s what I was doing. So, I paid a hefty price for my “forward thinking” to have the only LCD 16” screen available. Now, of course, I want to think ahead again (HD, BD, PC/TV) and thought, great, they have these “all-in-one” pc configurations and I need a pc and a tv, why not get all in one. No matter how much I love doing graphics on them I will not pay iMac prices. Seriously, they haven’t even addressed BD (Blu-Ray), ignore anti-virus and spyware,TV tuners, and have limited software for Macs, and everything beyond marginal is extra (“upgrades”), even wireless keyboard & mouse. I want to purchase the technology available today for a reasonable price, and won’t pay for advertisement with words like “brilliant”, “amazingly”, “breathtaking”, “wide-eyed wonder” and offering me the “perfect pixel experience”, because, you know, I’m not purchasing escort services… So, I am a hair from my next purchase— another Sony and will pay (not a bargain line, but next-generation) because they did get it all into one package and it is less money for more than Macs. Aesthetics are important to me and saving space, and I realize that I could get more for my money if I go for the tower and HDTV combo. Is it possible to have comment on this subject of PC/TV? I know I’d really appreciate it. I’ve scoured the internet and it’s difficult getting much, let alone solid extensive discussion on this.

This is to respond to merrell g. Melanie did a remix of Beautiful People on her 2005 “Old Bitch Warrior” album (do we still call them albums?)…It’s quite stirring. I was so inspired by Melanie all those years ago that I taught myself guitar. Then, when I rediscovered her, I bought an iPod so I could download her music. And we can peek at her performances via YouTube. How times have changed! And she has just gotten better…Thanks for bringing back good memories.

Well, I finally just had to register. I see the list is for women who sold the most, not “are” the best… Still, since we’re on the subject… I eventually saw about all the women’s names I agree are wonderful artists. I am surprised not to see Sarah Brightman though, whom I believe is known internationally, and as the “best selling” classical crossover soprano. I remember Emmy Lou Harris when she was just backup voice; as teens, my friend and I could pick up her voice in an instant and wondered why she wasn’t front stage. We haven’t even talked about Tina Turner, a woman totally under appreciated for her graceful walk out of the ditch she was put in by Ike to reveal her remarkable talent that still has people begging her to tour—at 68! She is known as the “Queen of Rock & Roll”, sold more concert tickets than any other solo artist of all time, and is one of the biggest selling music artists. I saw her 20 years ago and can still remember the moment she came out on stage; I had to catch my breath! Then there’s Melanie (Safka) (of NY, mistakenly thought to be from Jersey), my first introduction to a musician’s art in high school English. She primary went really big outside of the US, and still performs sold out concerts. She arrived on scene with an acoustic guitar (in the days of the wonderful Joan Baez, Collins, etc.), but her consistently evolving music led her record sales into the 25 million zone. There are many other wonderful women musicians on my mind, but this list thankfully isn’t a complete one.