What Happened, Oprah!!??

Oh my!! I caught a glimpse of Oprah accepting her Oscar for humanitarian work and I couldn't believe what I was seeing - a non-glamorous Oprah! The last time I saw her image was when she had the finale to her 25-year talk show. She looked fabulous, heavier but very shapely and her hair was immaculately styled, of course, and her makeup impeccable, as usual.

That was six months ago and within the last six months she has gone from immaculately groomed to, well, frumpy. She looked very overweight, unhappy, and tired. She even broke down and cried.

Come on, Oprah, this network thing may not be worth it. You have nothing to prove, you've been to the mountain top! I want to see you looking like this:

or this:

Steve Jobs' Last Words - Oh Wow!

Steve Jobs' sister said that his last words before losing consciousness were "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." There was something his eyes fixated on that only he could see when he said it. Those words are chilling to me, in a good way because his last words have given us a glimpse in the other side.

I was by both of my parents' side when they died twenty years apart, both in home hospice. My father, dying of lung cancer and medicated on morphine said one day, in his haze, that he was "drinking some wine," with a smile and a small laugh. Knowing that he was having sweet dreams was very comforting to me. His last words were his mother's name. It took him a lot of effort but he said his mother's maiden name when he overheard us filling out his death certificate. I believe he was seeing his mother who was there to greet him on the other side. That was comforting.

My mother, at age 93 was suffering from dementia and was on her death bed, said "Mommy?!" and died that night. She sounded so happy.

Sam Kinison's last words were chilling and left a big impression on me . He died differently than Steve Jobs and my parents, who died slowly and knew they were dying. Instead Kinison was in a head-on car collision and had no idea he was about to die. He had more of a last "conversation" than "words." But the thing that is the same is that he saw something on the other side and was happy or comforted by it. Wow, a natural death seems exciting or at least not scary.

Here is a first-hand account of Sam Kinison's last moments and words:

"... At first it looked like there were no serious injuries to Kinison, but within minutes he suddenly said to no one in particular "I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die." LaBove later said "it was as if he was having a conversation, talking to some unseen somebody else" some unseen person. Then there was a pause as if Kinison was listening to the other person speak. Then he asked "But why?" and after another pause LaBove heard him clearly say: "Okay, Okay, Okay.’ LaBove said: "The last ‘Okay’ was so soft and at peace...Whatever voice was talking to him gave him the right answer and he just relaxed with it. He said it so sweet, like he was talking to someone he loved." Source: Paul Luvera Blog

They Found Some Bones Yesterday

They found some bones in Malibu Canyon yesterday and everyone thinks it's Mitrice Richardson. Park Rangers were checking a spot to see if marijuana was being grown there as in the past and came across "a skull and some bones." Later, it was reported that the bones were of a woman, and there was denim fabric near the bones.

The bones were found only 2 and 1/2 miles from the spot where she was last seen!!

Seems like the family may have heard this news the same time the rest of us did because Mitrice's mother held a press conference in front of the county morgue because she was outraged that the sheriff's department would give out details to the public before telling her first. I agree - law enforcement has been so obtuse in this case. Seems like common decency would have made the detectives call Latice (Mitrice's mother) and tell her "look, this is going out on the news but we want to give you a head's up, it might not be anything relating to Mitrice but a partially decomposed body was found this afternoon." Something like that.

I always believed that Mitrice was still in the canyon. She could have stumbled there and died or she could have been murdered but I always felt that she was in some kind of "Deliverance"-type camp with a couple of degenerates who eventually killed her. Funny thing, judging from the pic taken by a helicopter and, I assume, before the remains were removed, it appears that the remains are beside a road as if someone drove there and pushed out the body and there it laid until all its skin and flesh disappeared. It looks like there are hair and clothes (I magnified the above pic) on the remains.

I'm sure, if it is Mitrice, those law enforcement officers that have viewed the remains and clothing will already know if it's her or not. Latice is demanding to be able to view the remains and I think she should so she doesn't have to agonize while the coroner does all the testing that needs to be done. There might be hair left on the skull or shoes on the feet that could identify her. Lord, let your will be done.

Was It Worth It?

OK, I kinda/sorta understand when cultural expections make you go to the extreme. Like women getting Triple-G size implants. But when you are so poor you sleep on the floor and you pay to be made pregnant and actually bring a child into this world with the great possibility that you won't be around for the heavy lifting.

Take for instance this lady on the left, Rajo Devi Lohan, gave birth to the child she is holding in her arms at the age of SEVENTY through IVF. Now she's dead.

I Almost Disappeared Like That

On Sept 17, 2009, Mitrice Richardson, a 24 year-old, All American-type girl, disappeared. There is a lot of controversy over whether the Sheriffs Department was negligent in releasing her in the dead of night, without a ride or someone to pick her up, in an undeveloped area with a lot of hills and brush. Oh yeah, the sheriffs wouldn't give her her car - impounded for some unknown reason - and told her she could leave though - on foot. As of today, June 26,2010, Mitrice has been missing for nine months.

This story haunts me because I almost disappeared like that, in a split second, and like in a movie playing out before me, someone from out of NO WHERE, in the next split second, saved me, literally, physically, saved my life.

I was riding my bike on a deserted street of undeveloped land when a van pulled over to the curb as I was waiting to cross the street. The man in the passenger seat asked me for directions. He looked harmless - chubby with fat cheeks and me, with my Girl Scout and sunday school training, I thought I would help him. As I straddled my bike and tried to think of how best to explain to him he jumped out of the van and ran towards me, grabbed my wrist and started pulling me to the van. I was like WTF is going on!!??

The struggle began as I started jerking back on my arm and digging in my feet trying to breakfree of his gigantic dirty hands. It was like we were in a tug of war. He got me all the way to the van and I stuck my arm straight out and braced it against the side to keep him from pulling me in.

I knew my skinny arm wasn't going to last long but adrenaline is a powerful thing because I felt like I was in a struggle for my life. It wouldn't have been any different if it had been a bobcat or bear or some other beast, I was scared to death and was fighting for my life.

I'm looking at the driver of the van, an old Latino man with gray hair and missing teeth. I'm begging him to help me, to stop his grandson and then it dawns on me that the old man is in on it. Just then, just in time, right before I was beginning to give up hope, a big fist came across from the left and socked fatboy so hard he staggered back and let me loose. He got back in the van and they sped off.

If this man had not stopped and rescued me I would have disappeared, just like that, just like it happens everyday.

Marc Christian Died

Rock Hudson's last lover died in June this year. I remember him because AIDS was the big thing in the news then and Rock was the first major actor the public knew that had AIDS. Marc was a really handsome man, the kind that get sugar-daddies among rich homosexuals to keep them in money and style. It's sad that Rock Hudson didn't have any family whatsoever and all his legacy went to this hustler he had only known for short while before he died.

Everybody Deserves a Roof - EDAR

An EDAR is such a cool invention. It's a miniature tent on wheel for the homeless. It folds up to the size of a shopping cart and has as much, if not more, storage space and can be pushed from here to there like a shopping cart. The real beauty of it is that it folds out into a water and wind proof tent with a bed that is OFF the ground. The wheels are sturdy and can be locked in place.

Anyway, when saw this story about the EDAR on CNN I thought about Jimmy, the homeless man at Crown Drugs. I thought he would be perfect and if I can get him one I would get to see it first hand on a regular basis because that's where he stays, everyday, all day. Except when it rains he told me he goes to some "window" business and sleeps.

I introduced myself to him and asked his name. He told me his name was Jimmy. I saw a plastic band on his wrist and asked him if he just got out of the hospital and he said "I just got out JAIL!" I thought of Richard Pryor and the wino. But Jimmy was not intoxicated nor did he ask me for money. Actually I've never seen Jimmy begging around the shopping center which is probably why they let him stay there. I told him I'd like to get him a portable tent he could sleep in, then fold it up and take it with him like his shopping cart.

It took a little while but once he understood he was all for it. As I soon found out, everybody, the merchants, clerks, security all love Jimmy. His bed and shopping cart are always neat and like I said, he doesn't beg. I found out later that Jimmy gets a GR check and probably has an EBT card. He just doesn't want to live in a shelter - period.