Goth bless America [with the most surprising of ways]

i watched this clip today – it was titled ‘Goth Andrew De Leon something something something’ and was obviously going to be one of those singing talent shows [the one without Simon Cowell] and clearly the big twist was going to be this goth suddenly singing like the offspring of Susan Boyle and Michael Jackson or something to that effect…

so i watched it and it deeply moved me [as they always do – pretend to be a rock but if you can watch this and not at least have the smallest hints of inner cry, you should get yourself checked out]

so watch the clip and be moved… but for me it was more about the person who thought they were nothing and turned out to be someone [which contains its own needing-to-be-looked-at issues of calling someone a someone just because they possess an amazing talent] receiving the affirmation they were looking for in life and before even going on stage declaring the hope that life was going to be completely different from now.

take a moment before watching though, and many moments afterwards, to think of the role of this guy’s family and friends and classmates and the responsibility and opportunities we have every day to give affirmation to and love those around us, so that they know it… and especially the ones who may not hear it from many people all that often [don’t waste your time tweeting Brad Pitt that you think he’s hot – i imagine he ‘gets’ that!]

which reminded me of a post i wrote for my old ‘Mash and Peace’ blog titled ‘Blessed are the Geeks’ that was about the labelling we tend to do so easily and the potential destructiveness of it…

so really who is your Andrew de Leon? [whether they can sing at all or not!] and what are you going to do today to let them know you care about them a lot?

[For a similiar themed article titled ‘Her life as a plus size model’ click here]

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: (delicate)

nope, i just couldn’t do it.

narrowed my selection down to two and was trying to pick the photo that best represents ‘Delicate’ to me, but really could not choose between these two, so decided i had to share them both. what strikes me about the selection is the two completely different interpretations of the challenge that are presented:

the first one is a picture of our Christmas tree star:

“not a star?” i hear you thinking [as you roll your eyes exasperatively] – i beg to differ. did you not watch the Avengers? He was THE star! Well his alter ego and Ironman at least. So anyways a cardboard cutout where the precision scissor-work and folding are what shine out the theme. Why do i love it so much and why has ‘the Hulk’ earned the coveted spot at the top of our tree? Well, we live in a poor and broken-down community and one day, one of the kids on the block [but not one of the ‘New Kids on the Block’ cos that would have been doubly celebrationary] knocked on the door and when i opened it he handed me cardboard Hulk which he had made for me [to go alongside the 3D Hulk card and bobble-head Hulk that live in our kitchen] earning him immediate star ranking.

the second picture experience was a little more personally and pain-inflictedly delicate for me:

i had wanted dreads for many years and at this point had had two mostly failed attempts to get them done and so i decided to call in the professionals [or so i thought] – went to this African hairdressers and they twisted my hair up really tight and as painfully as they could possible imagine, pinned it that way and told me i had to keep it in for two days [which involved delicate sleeping attempts on my dad’s lazyboy chair as any pressure put on them was excruciating] and then the whole shop pretty much laughing at me two days later when i told them i had [some kind of subtle and weird in-house punked experience i imagine] and when they were taken out they looked more Michael Jackson than dread and only lasted a week or two… so lesson learned… [and the real working dreads i know have, courtesy two really good mates of mine, are growing strong and steady]

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Reflections’ click here]

take a look at yourself and change your…face…

“i’m talking bout the man in the mirror – ooh yeah – i’m askin him to change his face… ooh wa… and no message, could have been, any clearer… if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and change your face” [Michael Jackson, adapted by plastic surgeons anonymous]

yes i know that’s not the line but it’s the one i always sing when i hear of that song – just got stuck in my head at some point and i think it’s fun

and while we can’t all afford plastic surgery, and why would you want to anyway, you’re beautiful, there are some things we can and maybe do need to change…

i just made two guys coffee – no big deal – don’t start waving the saint label at me or anything – no ‘brett fish ministries’ website or road show in the mix… but the point is they are two electricianny guys who are fixing the lights in our place as i speak – yes literally on a ladder in front of me right now and maybe i shouldn’t be speaking these thoughts out loud cos i’m starting to freak them out (okay that bit was only true in my head) – my point being, they came to do a job and i made them coffee – simplest action – completely unnecessary and unexpected and not part of the business transaction at all (although i am hoping they tip well) but maybe the smallest gesture that actually makes their morning that little bit better (being a cold and rainy day and all)

i tip my petrol attendant guys (crummy job i imagine, especially in bad weather  and probly not well paid and so imagine if twenty people an hour tipped them R2 to R10 bucks or more how it all adds up); and i  smile at cashiers when i buy stuff at the supermarket and when i’m really on form throw out some line loudly about how i picked them out of all the others; and i try and be generous to car guards (especially those in places i frequent often – in fact guys from church bought Gil – French dude – at Ginos a pizza the other day to say thankx and now he knows them by name and they are becoming friends; i always try and ask a homeless person their name if i engage with them or maybe buy them some food…

and yes, none of these things are going to win me the nobel peace prize which is great actually cos i have enuff junk around the house we’re trying to get rid of, but my point is that it is actually incredibly easy and mostly costless to lift someones day or moment with the smallest of gestures

“i’m talking bout the man in the mirror – ooh yeah – i’m askin him to change his face… ooh wa… and no message, could have been, any clearer… if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and change your face”

actually… maybe there is some truth in that altered version of the song… because a simple smile can be so powerful – and that sounds so incredibly cheesy but if it is, then it’s the good kind, that you only get when la-di-dah people bring out the crackers and a knife… when you are caught in traffic and you look across and see someone else totally bummed by the fact flash them a smile (try keep it friendly, not the stalkery type that will make leave their car and run screaming through the traffic away from you) – as you walk down the road be intentional about catching someone’s eye and smiling at them – when you shop, when you petrol, when you eat out, when you arrive home to your family…

there’s no ‘I’ in team… but there are two in ‘smile’ if you write it out twice in a row…

now go change the world! [start with your face]