Annie

My shiny stars came out with a video today! It's about Annie, and I think she's got her bags packed and is off with Graffiti6 on an incredible journey. Annie, she's that someone that will 'save you from the world' when you're down and just don't believe that you can go on. The video starts out with one lonely flickering light bulb, quickly joined by many flickering light bulbs which eventually begin to sway to the beat and rhythm of the song. The beat and rhythm of life. I don't know how I'll be able to turn my light out tonight to stop watching this video. It is simple, but filled with the complexities of life. People. All different People. Each one on their own journey. Whether a baby or a boxer, life isn't always easy. But, it can change. It can change from despair to delight, when you've got your Annie, and the faces in this video surely show it. Together with Jimi Crayon, Graffiti6's partner with paint, they present their electrifying, uplifting song, "Annie You Save Me," and will leave you smiling with delight. I am.

Superstar

I just got home from a good friend's birthday party. It was great. I met a lot of really nice people tonight. At one point, I was sitting on the couch with another good friend of my friend's. We were talking and she said in the middle of this conversation that she liked my earrings; dangly diamond stars. I know they are just objects, but it made it smile in a bittersweet way. I got these earrings on the day of my mom's funeral. My mom's closest and oldest friend gave them to me. She came to me with tears in her eyes and a tiny box in her hands. She told me how she bought them for my mom a couple of weeks before and had planned on giving them to her the next time she visited. She had bought them to cheer my mom up and bring a smile to her face, and because they had a special meaning to her. The nickname she called my mom growing up was, Superstar. But then, my mom died before she could give them to her, so she wanted me to have them. I wear them often and think of how my mom could always light up a room and shine like a star when she entered it.

My mom and I talked on the phone the morning before she was going away on a short bonding trip with some of her best girlfriends to a cabin on a lake in Wisconsin. She told me about what her trip was going to be like and it felt so good to know she was going to have a break from hospital visits and radiation treatments to spend time with friends in a beautiful and peaceful location. I then told her about how I was planning on going to visit friends and see my favorite singer, Jamie Scott, in a concert a couple of weeks later in England. I also continued to excitedly tell her about the new band he was forming called Graffiti6, and that I had a feeling they were going to be really really cool. And that made her feel good. We couldn't talk for very long that morning though, because her friend was picking her up early to get on the road for their trip. I wished her a wonderful time and we said our goodbyes. I didn't know then, that that would be the last conversation I would ever have with her. She passed away a couple of days later.

I'm sad that I can't talk to my mom about Graffiti6 now. That she can't hear the wonderfully soulful music that Jamie Scott and Tommy D write together and perform with the full band that makes up Graffiti6. Or see Jimi Crayon's bright and colorful artwork which accompanies their music. But, I'm so glad she knew they were on their way. They are shiny stars to me. Their music lifts me up when I'm sad, keeps me happy when I'm already happy, makes me want to shout for joy while singing and dancing around the house, and feel totally and completely like me. So, I'll be talking about them a lot. Things happen in life that you can't control. Some bad, some good. In this case, I got both at the very same time. I'm thankful for Graffiti6 and the happiness they bring into life, picking me up and keeping me moving. I think their song "Starlight" fits well to share this morning. This is one of my favorite songs of theirs and the beat in this song builds up inside of me, pushing me to keep on going. Even in times of darkness, there is always a starlight to follow.