Month: February 2013

Posted on

Sad News of Mindy McCready Passing Tonight

You might have heard about Mindy McCready’s domestic and personal troubles over these past 5-6 years. The saddest news came tonight that she was found in Arkansas with a fatal, self inflicted gunshot wound, on the porch of her house, next to her dog. R.I.P., Mindy, and I hope you have finally found the peace that you so desperately needed but never had here on earth.

Mindy was a country singer whose personal life spiraled out of control after just a couple of hit songs. My favorite was “10,000 Angels” and it seems a fitting song tonight to pay tribute to her. She had a sweet, soft voice and was very pretty. Too bad she could not find a good man to share her life with, and too bad she had to overcome such a horrible abusive childhood. And then the law had to get involved and mess up everything even worse, ending up with the State taking away her two children. It is a sad, sad story and a very bitter ending for this poor woman who just couldn’t handle it any longer.

Posted on

Shopping for Roses and Chocolates for Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, so I need to get out of the house and go shopping for roses and chocolates for tomorrow. I don’t usually buy roses for anyone on Valentine’s Day, but my sister and I thought it would be a nice thing to do for our mom, since our dad passed away last summer. Mom had a hard time with the first Christmas without him, and he used to always give her a dozen yellow roses on Valentine’s Day.

The color of roses and types of flowers that you give to people are supposed to have certain meanings, like the color red for roses means love. So we had asked Dad why he gave our mom yellow roses instead of red ones. He said that because she was born in Dallas, TX, that the two of them had always had a private joke about her being his “Yellow Rose of Texas.” So he always gave her yellow roses whenever there was an occasion for flowers.

My sister and I agreed to go in together and split the cost of the roses, and I will take them to her in the morning on my way to work. We could have them delivered, but we want her to get them first thing in the morning, so her entire day is brightened and she doesn’t have to spend all morning being sad, missing him.

Posted on

Chinese New Year Starts Next Week

Next week is the Chinese New Year. It is the biggest holiday for people in China and many Asian countries, and also for people who live in many big U.S. cities that have their own Chinatown districts. I have been to Chinatown in San Francisco, Oakland and Washington, DC. Each one is a treasure trove of great food at authentic Chinese restaurants, natural medicine shops and imported gift items.

The cities have big parades, firecrackers, and many traditions and superstitions that everyone must honor and observe. The one that I like is you cannot sweep your house on New Year’s Day or you will be sweeping all the good fortune for the coming year out of your door and you will not have good fortune.

Next year will be the Chinese Year of the Water Snake. I don’t know very much about what birth years are included in the Year of the Snake, but I will try to look them up and see what calendar sign is related to my own birthday. You should do the same!