Crystal Bowersox' New Album

One of my all time favorite singers from American Idol is Crystal Bowersox. She is an amazing talent and things certainly seem to be going well for her. She has a new album and soon will be playing Patsy Cline on broadway.

Bowersox' new album, All That For This, is released today. She wrote all the songs and they are beautiful. You can download her album on iTunes. You also can get it on CD.

Judy Collins on This Week's Episode of Girls

I am a big fan of HBO's Girls. I think Lena Dunham has got to be one of the biggest talents of her age. The writing is fabulous and the characters are brilliantly quirky. I alway love it when Hannah's parents are on the show and this week they took Hannah to a club where Judy Collins was singing. It brought back lots of memories of Collins songs. All of my records are still in album form and packed away, so I headed over to iTunes to download some of my old Judy Collins favorites.

Someday Soon 

Amazing Grace 

Turn Turn Turn 

Open the Door 

City of New Orleans 

Do you have a favorite Judy Collins song?

The Bay Bridge Lights Sculpture

The Bay Lights is the world’s largest LED light sculpture, 1.8 miles wide and 500 feet high. Inspired by the Bay Bridge’s 75th Anniversary, its 25,000 white LED lights are individually programmed by artist Leo Villareal to create a never-repeating, dazzling display across the Bay Bridge West Span through 2015.

Writers and Pinterest

Poets and Writers Magazine has a helpful article about how writers can best use Pinterest to connect with their readers.

Malibu Beach Celebrities

I love these three paintings, in the March issue of Vanity Fair, of celebrities on the beach. One is from 1933, one from 1995 and one from 2013. Wouldn't they be great in a beach house? Or, anywhere in my house?

Making Music By Swinging

This is a community project in Montreal. The swing set makes sounds as you swing. Together you can make melodies. How cool is that?

Amazing and Adorable! Five Year Old Prodigy

Lady Gaga is On the Cover of Vogue

Read the story.

#73 - A Year of Blogging and Journaling Ideas - Top Ten Favorite Songs

Here are 10 favorite songs that are guaranteed to get me dancing around the kitchen.

1.   I Heard it Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye
2.   Mercy - by Duffy

3.   Feeling Alright by Joe Cocker 

4.   Shake Rattle and Roll by Joe Turner

5.   Koop Island Blues by Koop Island

6.   Say Hey - by Michael Franti

7.   Dancing With Myself by Nouvelle Vague

8.   Let the Good Times Roll by Buckwheat Zydeco

9.   Stuck on You by Elvis Presley

10. Respect by Aretha

You can download, for free, my entire ebook - A Year of Blogging and Journaling Ideas

Meryle Streep - Just turned 63

And she is fabulous.

Can't Ever Get Enough Willie Nelson

 I love how he just walks up and starts singing.

Peace Love and Understanding

Stand By Me

Queen Elizabeth's Boat Parade

Love the first line of the Huffington Post article about the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. "Nobody throws a party in the rain like the Brits." Nobody wears hats like they do either. Looks like a boat parade would be a lot of fun, but maybe not so much in the rain.

Sade is Back

After many years the fabulous Sade is back touring and recording. This morning I have been listening to Sade's new album Bring Me Home. 53 year old Sade still has that silky smooth voice that I fell in love with in the 1980s. As of today her new album is number one on the charts. You can find out more about the return of this amazing singer on her website.

Congratulations Phillip Phillips - This Years' American Idol Winner

And the man has had BAD kidney stones all season. Ouch! He's having surgery right away. This young man is going to have one fabulous career. So is Josh Ledet. I look forward to both of their albums. Note to producers DO NOT RUIN THEM BY HAVING THEM SING STUPID POP SONGS. LET THEM BE WHO THEY ARE!

Love and Haight

Anyone remember the "summer of love"  and the five years that followed?  I was a teenager then, living near San Francisco and wanting to go to the Haight-Ashbury district to experience the hippie lifestyle.  Mom and Dad basically said "Over our dead bodies "........i was so close but so far away! This book took me back to that time and place and reminded me of the pull San Francisco held for so many of us. LOVE AND HAIGHT, by Susan Carlton, gives a real picture of the the 1970's in the Haight. more...

‘King Peggy’: A Cinderella Story — With A Twist

During my vacation to San Francisco, I had the pleasure of reading the new nonfiction bestseller, KING PEGGY. It was so delightful that I read it TWICE! The book is full of fascinating juxtapositions: the life of a secretary in the United States and the life of a king in Ghana; a lonely life and a life surrounded by community; living without real purpose and living with a meaning decided by one's ancestors etc. Peggy brings to her role, as (shockingly!) a female king in Ghana, all the wit and wisdom of a modern day woman mixed with the traditions and beliefs of her relatives in Ghana. Loved it! more... Pam

500 Years of Women in Art

500 years of how women have been depicted in art.....fascinating! more...

Hip-Hop Dance Moves: How to Dougie

My dancing style, such as it is, seems a little out of date. I came to this conclusion while attending a New Year’s party at my friend Nancy’s house. I was cha-cha-ing while everybody else was doing the salsa and some hip hop sort of thing. So, I found this little article to teach me a few moves. The Dougie, anyone? My motto for 2012- less watching, more dancing! Jana

More “How To Dance Videos” can be found here.