Alone With IZ

Israel Kawiwo'ole

"IZ"

My playlist includes many songs by this larger than life young man.  Iz died in 1997 at the age of 38, almost 12 years before I discovered the sweetest voice I had ever heard.  After he was cremated, his ashes were spread on the water.  That day appears at the end of this video.  He was accompanied by thousands of fans who sent their love along with him.  You can still get his CDs or download songs separately into an MP3 player.  There are two songs that I thought would never be sung as well as the original artists.  "Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland, and "Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.  I've changed my mind.

I'll bet you become a fan too.

Stupid Earring Day

Gerri

Oh yeah.  You've got a drawer full of this stuff too.  Don't even try to tell me otherwise.  You needed it for a special outfit or a costume, something that provided that extra little punch.  It took a look from just okay, to pizazz!  I had to twist Gerri's arm to get her to put these back on.  Those clips just kill your earlobes.  Remember?

Susan

Susan has drawers full of this stuff.  There were tea parties and garden parties and birthday bashes and, well, you get the idea.  She still has the dress that goes with these earrings.   Stupid Earring Day was her idea.   We thought it sounded like fun.  Where else are we going to wear our "jewels"?  But we don't encourage her.  Who knows what will be next!

Virginia

Virginia said she didn't have any tacky jewelry and had to go shopping for these.  We didn't believe her.  Every woman has some tacky stuff hidden somewhere.  Then she came in these drop dead gorgeous Betsy Johnson earrings which I love.  I'll have to find out where she got these. 

Gwen

Yes, she always looks like this.  Gwen makes most of her jewelry.  She has more jewelry than all the other women in our group put together.  Serious jewelry.  So this wasn't a stretch for her.  But none of it is tacky.  Just really big.  For her own good, we don't let her near water.

Sandi

These are the kind of earrings that keep hitting your shoulder when you turn your head, so they are a real pain in the neck.  But they look good.  And Sandi bought the earrings for this floor length dress.  She looks fabulous. 

Pat

Pat is consistent.  She and her house look alike.  If you took her earring and blew it up a hundred times, she would put it on her wall as modern art.  She loves it and it does look great.  Virginia thinks Pat is the whitest white woman she has ever seen.  We think so too. She doesn't get out much until the sun goes down.

Linda

Yep, it's me.  I had huge hoop earrings that had bananas and pineapples in them.  They went with my Carmen Miranda Halloween costume.  There was nothing tackier than those earrings.  But, I couldn't find them.  So, I bought these at a Dollar Store sale - now that's cheap!  Maybe I'll use them for Valentine's Day....

Put Out The Red Carpet

Better dust the guest bedroom.  We've got company.

Happy Birthday Arizona Skies!

Arizona Skies is one year old today!

Only another blogger would understand the utter amazement that happens when, after a year, I haven't even begun to search for something to say.  For better or worse, it all rolls on and on, almost effortlessly.  I'm still tweaking, but I've achieved what I intended from the beginning.  Getting to know you and hearing all the amazing things you tell me each day.

The best gifts are mine!  Who knew that I would make so many friends with such interesting opinions on so many topics?  It really is a small world after all.  There are no national borders,  no artificial barriers.  Just people having a conversation and getting to know some of the other people and opinions on this planet we all call home.

I know so much more than I did a year ago.  From writing and gardening, to poetry and photography.  Traveling and history, small town news to the Hubbell Telescope and beyond.  All the pictures and comments about your families and recipes from 92 (and counting) foreign countries.  Political views and religious persuasions, jokes and tears, fears and joys.  New friends that show up weekly and some that die and break our hearts.

Thanks to all of you that came before me and showed me the ropes;  I hope I can return the favor to those that come along this year.  I want you to know that it's an exciting moment every morning when I bring my coffee and turn on the computer.  And every morning I happily wonder the same thing.

Who will I talk to today?