Beyond Words

If you say “I lost my khakis” you just said “I lost my car keys” with a Boston accent

and if you say “Raise up lights” you just said “Razor blades” with an Australian accent!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

This was one of my first ever blogs back in 2012.  It’s my favorite quote by Maya Angelou, who passed away today.  RIP great lady and may we all never forget your words of wisdom:

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.”

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

I recently saw the above car in a parking lot as I was moving Kristen out of her OU apartment.  I thought to myself, “what the heck?”  Granted, it more than likely belongs to a college student (and please, no Okie jokes) who didn’t even pay for the car, but why would you want all that on your vehicle?  Besides, is it even safe?  Can the driver adequately see out the back window?

After seeing this similar yet throw-back van in Florida, I felt a blog coming on.

Bumper stickers have been around for as long as, well, bumpers.  People either love them or hate them.  I’m somewhere in between.  I enjoy a clever (“my Jack Russell is smarter than your honors student” or “honk if you’re Amish) one and I support anyone who supports their team(s) with one, but some literally drive me nuts.

The “Big 3” of bumper stickers seems to be, in no particular order:  teams, politics, and kids.  I have two of the three on my car:

“OU Mom.”  Really Carla?  Corny?  Yes.  Do I care?  No!

Kids and their activities probably take up more space on the backs of our cars than anything else, save maybe teams.  Everywhere you drive, you are behind someone whose daughter is on a dance team or whose son plays football or one or both who is in the band.  Parental pride reigns.

The ones that get me are the family of stick figures.

I guess that says it all, but I did kinda like this one I saw up in Norman.  It’s totally my fam!

On the much more crass side is this one I saw one time in Santa Fe:

You gotta admit though, it’s pretty funny!

Politics Aside

Love him or hate him, probably one of the most celebrated political candidate stickers was the infamous black “W” in a white oval for George W. Bush.  I had one and I loved them!  Classic and clever.  Simple yet suffice.  Equally widespread is the trademarked “O” on the Obama and “Hope” stickers.  I didn’t have either but I’m giving credit where credit is due.

A popular sticker in Austin right now is a pink sneaker with “Wendy” on it in support of gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis.  Something tells me you probably aren’t seeing as many of them in Southlake and Waco as you are in Austin.

Supportin the Team

A classic white Longhorn is also the norm in Austin, as is many a “Texas Exes” alum sticker.  Still, emblems supporting teams from all 50 states, whether pro or college, are everywhere.  Never a drive goes by when I don’t see an Aggie, Boston Red Sox, or Dallas Cowboy sticker on a car.  Somewhat surprising though is the absence of NBA stickers.

The owner of this car, however, must be really confused!

Back in the Day

Growing up in Santa Fe, I remember “Onward Through the Fog” stickers everywhere.  I’m pretty sure at one point I had one on my car even though to this day I have no idea what it means.  All I knew then was that it was cool.  I also remember “Texan Go Home” stickers in protest to the growing influx of “goat roper” skiers on our mountain.  I never had one and thank goodness.  Little did I know I would come to love Texas and have my very own Texas native!

When I did move to Texas, Austin in particular, bumper stickers were in full force.  Who remembers those “SOS” ones and the “Pray for me I drive 183” stickers?  Now “SOS” could mean “pray for me I drive anywhere in Austin!”

When Kristen comes home to Austin she always comments “oh, there’s a Range Rover (or BMW or Tahoe or any nice car) without letters.  Imagine that.”  Letters, being those white fraternity or sorority letters.  Not so common with UT students, they are everywhere in Norman and many a college campus.  Even they have evolved though.  When I was at OU, house crests were the norm.

I’ll end with what’s one of my biggest pet peeves:  runner’s stickers that state how long the marathon was or half-marathon or triathlon was or whatever they ran.  Okay, we get it.  You run.  Yay for you.  But what about baseball players?  Should they have stickers stating their RBIs on their car?  Do golfers post “hole in one” stickers or have you ever seen a “black diamonds only” on a skier’s vehicle?  Enough already.  Put them on your bulletin boards or refrigerators please.  No one cares that you run or how far you run.   Think about it, every time we’re behind you this is what we’re really thinking:

This was not what I planned to post today, but I ran across it and it spoke to me today.

I love Tim Tebow and all he stands for and I really needed to hear this today.

Live it. Believe it.

“A nation that does not honor its heroes will not endure long.” Abraham Lincoln

This is who we honor and memorialize today:

Total American deaths by war

Civil War – 625,000
World War II – 405,399
World War I – 116,516
Vietnam War – 58,151
Korean War – 36,516
Revolutionary War – 25,000
War of 1812 – 15,000
Mexican-American War – 13,283
War on Terror – 6,717

Celebrated the last Monday each May, what is today called Memorial Day was for many years referred to as Decoration Day. It all started after the Civil War as a way to commemorate the more than 600,000 soldiers who died fighting for both the Union and the Confederacy. It became an annual ritual to decorate soldiers’ graves with flowers, wreaths, and flags. In 1967, federal law officially declared it Memorial Day and designated it a National Holiday.

While we’re all kicking off summer, hosting backyard bar-b-cues, opening swimming pools, going to the lake and beach, and enjoying a day off from work, let us also remember those who gave their lives to keep us free and did not come home.

I love Max Lucado and he hit it out of the park on this one:

“What you probably will be thinking about on your death bed

you should be working on daily.”

I have a dear friend whose initials are J.Z. and I love affectionately calling her “Jay Z.” No, this blog is not about her. It’s also not about an insect that lives in a hive and makes honey. It’s about rapper Jay Z and his pop singer wife, Beyonce. Together, they make up one of the most influential and successful partnerships on the planet. And I’m not just talking music.

Let me make this perfectly clear: I’m not a huge fan of either but I do love some of Beyonce’s hits and I love the Jay Z and Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind” collaboration. But, last night I sat with Kristen and watched a docu-interview on Jay Z and found it quite interesting.

Shawn Carter, Jay Z’s given name, grew up in the Brooklyn projects and has gone on to become not only a music mogul but a sports and fashion one too. He is one of the most financially successful hip-hop artists and entrepreneurs in America and discovered the likes of Rihanna and others. Tragically, his dad left the family when young Shawn was only 11. He learned to survive and dream on the streets and is self-made. For that reason he continues to take risks. He has both business and street smarts, smarts you can’t teach or learn at Harvard. He doesn’t sit back and rest on his laurels though and admits being successful isn’t the end all many believe it to be. “I’m not sure what you learn from success. I haven’t figured that out yet,” he stated on the OWN program. “You learn much more from failure.” He also said he believes rap music has helped improve race relations, as “it’s hard for a parent to teach racism when their young son likes Snoop Dog.”

Perhaps true, but it got me thinking. Why, being that nearly 75 percent of African-American babies are born out of wedlock and are raised by single moms, aren’t rap and hip-hop artists not respectful of women in their music, rather then what they so often are: very degrading and very disrespectful. I don’t get it.

Which brings us to Jay Z’s beautiful and talented wife, Beyonce, otherwise known as “Queen B.” The product of a nuclear and close-knit Houston family, Beyonce Knowles burst upon the music scene as part of Destiny’s Child. She has since, as a solo artist, taken over both the pop and R&B charts. She is stunning to look at and amazingly talented.

So why, I asked Kristen just a few days ago, is she so skanky? I was not prepared for the earful I got in reply!

“She is not skanky, she is sexy,” Kristen instructed me. “She’s a sexy almost every 20-year-old is dying to be. Plus, she’s really truly talented, got married before she got pregnant, and she and Jay Z are never out clubbing and in the tabloids.” Valid points taken.

I still wonder though, why does Beyonce choose to depict herself so raunchy in so many of her videos? This is a woman who doesn’t need to stoop to the levels that many wanna-bees do and she would still sell millions and be respected. Beyonce’s audience ranges from elementary-aged kids to full-blown adults. What message, then, is she sending to her younger audience when she flaunts her “assets” in video after video? The results of grinding and groping your way through inner city or suburban America can be way more damaging then when done in a controlled MTV video. Whether she likes it or not, Beyonce is a role model to many, least of whom is her young daughter. Again, I just don’t get it.

This somewhat seamlessly leads to my last “I don’t get it” point. Why hasn’t the alarming out-of-wedlock African-American birth rate not been addressed more passionately by our current African-American president? Why isn’t the issue one of our First Lady’s major platforms? In the entire recorded history of the planet, there has never been a greater voluntary abandonment of men from their children than there is today in black America. If they want to tell me what to believe and what issues to support, why aren’t they screaming to their own people to stop the madness?! Once again, I just don’t get it.

This brings me back to Jay Z, who after watching the interview with him inspired me to write this blog. He may have some questionable baggage in his past, but who of us doesn’t? I may not agree with many of his lyrics or like many of his songs, but I respect his talents and his passion. I only wish he’d use those talents and that passion to make a real difference in the lives of his fans.   I have a dream.

There’s been a lot of ugly and somewhat depressing stories in the news lately; everything from Benghazi cover-ups to Ukraine unrest to the missing Malaysia airplane and even the horrid things said by the L.A. Clippers owner.  Sometimes all we can do is pray.  Often times Mother Teresa said it best.