I'm Too Old For This...An Invalid Excuse

I went to the Madonna concert last night. Whoa. Can I just say, she's only 8 years younger than my mother. Remember that. Once again, I was nervous to be in L.A. so I brought my inferior camera. It shows. I apologize.


~The view from our seats~

Amy (a friend from the early years of our marriage), had an extra ticket to the concert at Dodger Stadium. Being the generous person that she is, she offered it to me. I'll admit that I had some serious reservations about going. I'm not the biggest fan of hers. We've all heard about Madonna's questionable concerts, but Trevor encouraged me to go (was his XBOX calling?). I'm so glad I did. What a surprisingly un-raunchy show.




~Jenise (Amy's SIL), Moi, and the fabulous Amy~


I cannot believe this woman is 50 (Oops. Did I just "out" my mother's age?). She didn't stop. Ever. She was almost constantly dancing, running up and down the stage. At one point, she actually came out jump roping (yeah, it was a little cheesy) and then lived a "fantasy" of hers, by double-dutching on stage. And not just a little DD, she was hard core, doing little stunts and whatnot. She's almost certainly gone through menopause. I could no further see my mother with a jump rope than see pigs fly. No offense mom, I just don't think your bladder has it in her. She's 50! I can't get over that. Pretty inspiring and more than a little impressive.


~Performing a song with Kanye West who wasn't really there~On stage~


There were a couple of guest surprises. Brittney Spears came out and sang a song with her. It was a man/paparazzi bashing song. Fitting since they both have or are having very public divorces and are stalked by the media. Bitter much? She actually did a really great job and looked healthy and modest. I know. Shocker.


~Brit and Madonna on the Jumbo-tron (Jumbo Tron? Jumbotron?)~


One of the best performances was with J.T. That's right. Little hottie Justin Timberlake was there too. Yummy. He's so good live. Don't get me wrong, Madonna was good, but you could definitely tell when she was singing live and when she was lip syncing. He's just rad. It was icing on the cake, in fabulous eye candy fashion. Here's a little tasty snack for you. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.





Of course, there was the inevitable political crap, we all knew it was coming. It only lasted a minute or so. I was just grateful it wasn't shoved down my throat. In case you're wondering, "...if we can put a black man in the White House, we can have gay marriages! Keep up the fight!"
Whatever Madonna.


~I wonder who she voted for? Oh wait, didn't she give up her citizenship?~I think this one may have been the jump rope sequence~


There were a couple of other blog worthy moments that night, and, yes, I took pictures.


$6.50 Kettle Corn that tasted like musty shelves. It's the only way I can describe it.


~Jenise showing off her mad Vanna White skills~


25 mile car ride, to the stadium, that took just under 3 hours.


~Amy and I riding cheerfully in the car~


Crazy purple people eater lady.





There was dedication in getting this pic. We had to wait outside the bathroom for her to come back out. It takes a while to get your fishnet stockings and purple panties to fit just right under your violet corset (which is a little askew). It's a bad pic. We were trying to be subtle. I don't think it worked. After I took this picture, the guy approached us and asked us if we wanted him to take a picture of Amy and I together. We were bummed we didn't get a back shot. The cellulite was classic. I'm hating my inferior camera right now. Still, it was worth it.



The throw backs to her oldies were my fave. "You Must Love Me" was pretty. "Spanish Lullaby" blew me away. "Vogue" brought out the diva supermodel in me. Remember, I'm not a fan, I don't own a single CD of hers, but, she rocked. At 50, she rocked. I'm too old for this is now an invalid excuse for anything. Grab a jump rope Mama. We have work to do.

"A More Determined Discipleship"

I thought this was appropriate, in light of all that has been going on, this election year. Many members didn't agree with the Churches support of proposition 8. I, for one, am compelled to follow the voice of the Prophet. It astounds me that others find fault in the same voice. How many times have we said, while reading the Book of Mormon, "why can't the Nephites just figure it out? When they follow the Prophet and obey God's commandments they are blessed and when they don't, they have to endure mass destruction, bondage and poverty." I don't think it's much different today. Will those who come after us, say the same things about our generation? Will they wonder why we blatantly disobeyed our Father and disregarded the pleadings of our Prophet to stand up for the sanctity of marriage and the preservation of the family? I thought this quote, given nearly 30 years ago was inspired at least. I marvel at they way these out of date words may be more applicable now than they were then.

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions."Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."--- Elder Neal A. Maxwell Feb. 1979 Ensign

For the record, Proposition 8 passed. We have protected marriage for the time being and are now "knowing the joy of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds...". The fight is far from over. There is already a pending lawsuit, fighting to overturn the peoples will that was expressed yesterday. Summer is upon us...

Now It's Getting Personal

~The new sign, which looks a lot like the last two~

I was robbed again last night. You remember last time right? Well, as promised, I got another sign. This time I took very tender care of my sign. She was always standing straight in the lawn and promptly brought in each night when the sun went down. Last night, I thought, "eh, tomorrow's the election, who's going to steal a sign on the last night?". Some free-speech-stealing jerk is. He/She wiped the neighborhood clean. Not one sign left. I try not to be too political on my blog. It's supposed to be about my family and their happenings. Well, this involves the future stability of families and it's happening to me. Even though we have only 11 hours left until the polls close, I'm still going to keep shouting out my cause. My friend Heather has 3 signs in her yard. I borrowed one. Take that, you two faced son of a jackal (that's from Aladdin, I could have been more colorful)! Anyone who knows me know you can't shut me up! P.S. I voted, so should you.

Tomorrow; Santee Alley. Trust me, it's a good 'un.

I've Been Robbed

I was "this close" to taking a picture of my political activism yesterday. You know, to blog about. We had a "McCain/Palin" sign and a "Vote Yes on 8" sign. They sat there all cute shouting out our conservative Republicaness for all to see. I should have taken the picture. When we got home from Cory and Gina's last night, our signs were gone. Our neighbors across the street were our twins. In fact, I gave them a Prop 8 sign and they gave me the McCain sign. The neighbors were robbed too. It should be a little funny. I've gotten under somebody's skin after all. I do love getting under people's skin, but I'm bugged. Where's my free speech? It's probably in a dumpster somewhere. I feel slightly violated. Someone was on my property (okay, my in-laws property). I'm going to post a version of a Prop 8 sign on my blog. They can't steal that! I will vow to get another sign, though. The libs can't keep me down.