My Billboard Music Awards 2013 Moments

It started with a BANG! Bruno Mars never disappoints. Its funny because when I first saw him a few years ago singing with the other guy about being a millionaire, I dismissed him as another flash in the pan. (I know old lingo. It means all spark and no substance.) Over the last couple of years, Bruno Mars has solidified himself as a real musician, songwriter and star. He sings, he dances, he plays instruments. Bruno Mars reminds me of artists of previous decades who actually wrote and played their music on instruments.
I know, like everyone else I am a Taylor Swift fan. While I don't own any of her music. I like her talent. She is consistent and constantly evolving. I thought her performance was bright, lively and well choreographed. She knows how to engage her audience and never forgets to thank her fans. Starting backstage and dancing her way out was fabulous and a standout performance. She is one of the few female artists her age, who is an actual musician and has not yet resorted to stripping down to get and keep attention.
Prince was epic!!! From his afro to his 60's garb, to his messages of humanity, to his all girl band and blistering guitar riffs, Prince not only shut it down, he blew it up. There was nothing like it on the Billboard Awards or any any other award show in recent history that I can remember. Prince gave notice to the world. Anyone that thought he was done is sadly mistaken. Prince burst on the stage like a rainbow after a ravaging storm spreading musical light on a world plagued by artificial "artism".
I was mortified to see that one of the few African American females to perform was Nicki Minaj. Not that I have anything against her. She is also very talented, but like so many young, female artists, she uses her body as her primary source of communication. Her Billboard performance consisted of giving a lapdance to another artist on stage. It is hard to hear the music when she is constantly pushing her butt at the camera. Once in a while, it can work, but not all the time.  
Justin Bieber was just sad. Over the past few years, it seems as if he has gone from being a fresh, talented, rising star to a spoiled, crazed, cookie cutter brat who is losing it in front of the whole world. His lip synced performances in 1980's MC Hammer pants were almost too much to bare. His plea for understanding when he got the Billboard award was atrocious. If you are what you say you are, you don't need to ask anyone to accept that, as long as you believe it.
 Kid Rock said it best when he came out to present. "Lets hear it for lip syncing".
 I would love to see a nationally broadcast Indie Music award show. I could go on, but I will end saying that all this makes for good ratings and great blogs.

How to survive change without losing your mind.

I know, you're probably thinking, where the heck has she been? This blogging is no easy task when you're working, in school full time or have a family. I admire those dedicated bloggers who can spend hours at at time on line writing. Kudos to you!!! I not only wanted my blog to be timely, but interesting, so I didn't just throw crap on the wall to see what stuck.
What I have found is that people who can afford to, have a team or at least an assistant whose job it is to manage these sites; Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, various blogs and of course the ever important artist website, not including the emails and gig submissions. I am tired just thinking about it. I don't have an assistant yet. I wish I did, but enough about me.
This past year has been jam packed with change and I have barely had a chance to catch my breathe. From playing my first show at the famed Bitter End in NYC to seeing my grandson born to experiencing numerous firsts with my 12 year old boy and learning how to juggle 4 classes at once. I reunited with my ex husband for the gazilionth time, only to have the straw that breaks the camels back permanently kill my love for him forever. That is a whole nother story. I tried to meet someone on MATCH and POF only to feel terribly disappointed at the lack of realism and desire of many to actually communicate with someone. It reminded of some of the guys I met during my clubbing days, who would act interested, take my number and never call or give me their number and were never available to talk. Meeting someone seemed so much easier then. It seems that people talk less in person and sometimes hide behind the wall of the Internet to avoid intimacy. I lost over 20 pounds and finally started feeling happy about the way I looked. I started walking daily with my new dog and using my Iphone to track my food and exercise. I took a health class that required me to journal about my health goals. I developed carpal tunnel syndrome and came to know pain on a daily basis. I know I need surgery and that's a whole nother story. My daughter and my grands moved back to Orlando and I wanted to go with them. My car broke down three times and for what I spent I could have put a down payment on a new car. I interned for NBC and finished my documentary. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Change, change, change.
Change causes us to have a host of emotions from ecstasy to anguish. Making us want to run and hide or jump for joy. Change can make us want to lose our minds if we don't keep it in perspective. Many of us don't do change well because it can be uncomfortable and cause stress. It can be easy to be positive when things are going good. The challenge is to be positive to when things aren't going good. Change does not have to be painful. We are in a constant state of change from our skin flaking off to our blood moving through our veins, to the air we breath, nothing stays the same. Its is not what happens to us, but how we deal with it. I say we because I am but one cog in the wheel of humanity and besides misery loves company. Change forces us to move a muscle, a thought, sometimes both to adjust our perspective on what is taking place in our lives. Sometimes denial is the first response, like "I can't believe this is happening". The impact of the change or changes can feel so overwhelming that it take us completely by surprise and this can manifest itself in a variety of ways. Very often changes happen so quickly that we feel unprepared and ill equipped to handle all these changes at once. We become mentally, physically and emotionally overloaded regardless to whether the changes are good or not so good. This type of overload can cause us to make bad decisions and react to external forces.
Surviving change without losing our minds is a conscious effort that requires forethought and  preparation. Change is inevitable and believing this wholeheartedly allows us to see change for what it really is, a byproduct of living. As long as we live and breath we are in a constant state of change, like it or not. I was not always to clear on this. Almost thirty years ago I got some really good advice that changed the way I saw life at that time. What's nice about life is that the longer you live, hopefully you have many, what Oprah calls "Ah ha moments" and this was one of many to come and many more yet to be. I didn't do change well at all and my friend gave me three rules that have helped me to handle change. One, everything happens for a reason and out of everything comes good. Secondly, everyone is subject to change. Lastly, anything is possible.
These three rules have helped to understand change in all its forms. I hope they help you too.