It's 76 minutes long, so watch it when you have nothing better to do.

There's a section in the book called Get in Touch with Your Crayon Box. His intention, during the lecture, was to give everyone a crayon and have them close their eyes and feel the texture of the crayon and smell it while he was talking about childhood dreams. I was so intrigued I put the book down and went searching for crayons. My daughter is 13 now so we don't have them laying around. I finally found a small plastic bag of them in a box buried in the closet. I pulled a few out, closed my eyes and felt the texture of the paper and wax, then held it up to my nose and took a big whiff, just like he instructed in the book. I didn't realize a little crayon could be so powerful! It took me right back to my childhood, to a time when my dreams were larger than life and before cynicism and self doubt moved in.

Two days after my crayon experience I was in the office supply room at work and there on the table was a coloring book. Wow, what are the odds right after my crayon encounter that I find a mysteriously unowned coloring book. I couldn't help myself, I took one page out for my very own. Lucky for me, I found that treasure right before leaving for the day so I didn't have to wait long to break out those crayons and start coloring.

It sounds like a silly exercise but it was inspiring and I urge you to do the same. If you can't find any crayons around the house, go buy some, take them home, find a comfortable spot and reconnect with your childhood dreams. Remember when you dreamt of being a fireman or owning the biggest candy store in the world or being a princess or playing for your favorite sports team? Remember when you had no doubt whatsoever you would accomplish those things and anyone who told you different was just crazy or too old to understand?

Unfortunately, I don't remember too many of my childhood dreams right now. But when I do, even if they aren't dreams I have for myself today, I want to feel the way I felt when I was seven: that I can do anything, that nothing can stop me from being what I want to be or doing what I want to do. Not money, not parents, not society, not friends and most importantly - Not Myself. When I look back on my life and at all of those 'I wish I would've' times, I realized that I have been the reason why I haven't accomplished my goals. I have gotten in the way of my dreams. Me and my self doubt. I cherish this nugget of wisdom and knowing this has created so many other paths for me to explore.

What were your childhood dreams? Did you accomplish them? Or do you have that same wide-eyed abandon to your dreams now that you did when you were a kid?

"My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to.  The first was to walk without braces."  -Wilma Rudolph

INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH BY DR. RANDY PAUSCH: THE LAST LECTURE. DR. PAUSCH PASSED AWAY ON JULY 25, 2008  *******This is the condensed version of Dr.Pausch's Last Lecture given at Carnegie Mellon University for his appearance on Oprah.  These principles, gleaned through the eyes of a dying father, are immensely poignant.  Speeches like this normally just fuel my drive to live the best life possible, but this particular speech left me a bit misty eyed and made me reflect on the life I have lived, am currently living and intend to live.  I'll watch the full speech today and post it once I'm done.*******

WORD OF THE DAY

EXIGENCY

(noun)
[EK-sah-jahn-see, ig-ZIJ-ahn-see]

1. the demands or requirements of a situation (usually plural); pressing needs; 'unable to cope with the exigencies of political life'

2. a pressing or urgent situation; 'the health-care exigency': "We will need to wait until the conditions improve before we can begin to rectify the damage of the flood exigency."

SAUL WILLIAMS-LIST OF DEMANDS  *******Saul Williams is the man...he's brilliant I tell ya!!!

VIDEO OF THE DAY

CHRIS BROWN-FOREVER  *******I need to be on the dancefloor!!!  Tomorrow my friends...tomorrow... :)

Poate s-a micsorat numarul curselor aeriene care trec prin zona mea? Nu prea se poate. Defapt sunt aproape sigur ca numarul curselor a crescut. Plus ca acum locuiesc in Bucuresti 9 luni pe an. Poate au inceput sa zboare mai sus, pe unde eu nu le vad sau poate nu mai vad eu atat de bine. Poate au vopsit toate avioanele in albastru si nu le mai disting pe cer. Pot sa vin cu astfel de explicatii mult si bine dar ma amagesc singur. Nu mai vad avioane pentru ca nu mai privesc cerul.

Copil fiind stateam cu orele intins pe iarba sau cocotat pe casa privind cerul, incercand sa identific fiecare nor cu o forma familiara sau sa pandesc OZNuri sau pur si simplu imi clateam ochii cu albastrul cerului. Si vedeam avioane. Ma certam apoi cu ceilalti copii despre care dintre noi l-a vazut primul. Avioanele cu reactie erau bineinteles cele mai usor de reperat si eram convins de faptul ca ele, sub comanda unei forte superioare, dau nastere norilor.

Elicopterele nu mi-au placut niciodata. Erau prea aproape, prea zgomotoase si oricine le putea vedea usor. Dar nici elicoptere nu am mai auzit in ultima vreme. Sa se fi intamplat la fel ca in cazul avioanelor? Am devenit oare nu doar orb dar si surd la tot ce este in afara rutinei? Sunt oare toti adultii asa? Mergem toti pe strada cu ochi strans inchisi si cu degetele in urechi? Daca nu mai vedem avioanele, oare cate alte lucruri le ratam datorita privirii infipte in pamant? Oare nu de asta gasim din cand un cand un obiect care ne aduce aminte de copilarie si nu ne dam seama de ce? Sa fie oare pentru ca acel obiect banal a devenit invizibil odata cu trecerea timpului. Oamenii de stiinta se pare ca au descoperit asta inaintea mea:

Exista un sunet denumit Mosquito, cu o frecventa de 17 khz, iar acesta poate fi auzit doar de persoane tinere sau animale. Inventatorul Howard Stapleton, cel care s-a gandit prima data sa utilizeze acest sunet, l-a folosit in scopuri de securitate, ca sa alunge din magazinele englezesti huliganii. Dupa aceea, a devenit o moda in randul elevilor americani care isi puneau sunetul Mosquito drept ringtone la telefon. Astfel, erau instiintati cand primeau un sms, fara sa auda si profesorul.

~ www.121.ro

Dar daca acest fenomen se aplica nu doar sunetelor sub 17 khz ci si sentimentelor, ideilor si starilor pe care le pierdem odata cu imbatranirea. Daca este intradevar un proces atat de corect stintific atunci ne putem oare impotrivi lui? Cercetatorii lucreaza din greu la descoperirea "tineretii fara batranete" incercand sa opreasca procesul de degradare a corpului uman cauzat de imbatranirea celulelor. Dar cine incearca sa opreasca imbatranirea sufletului nostru?

Dar revenind la avioanele de la care am plecat...

Am zarit acel avion pentru doar cateva secunde. Nici nu mi-am dat seama ce e la inceput, un simplu punct fix deasupra campului care fugea de sub tren. Nu l-am mai vazut o vreme, cand s-a ascuns dupa niste tufisuri de pe marginea caii ferate, dar dupa o vreme a revenit. Nemiscat, in acelais loc in care il vazusem ultima data.

- Imposibil! mi-am spus.

Iar realitatea mi-a dat parca o palma peste ceafa! Avionul meu nu era nimic altceva decat o pata pe geamul trenului. Mergea odata cu mine, era doar o bucatica de mizerie neidentificata nu o minune a stiintei. Nu vazusem defapt nici un avion. Nu am mai vazut de mult unul....

Voi de cand n-ati mai vazut avioane?

I loved the sport. I loved watching it and, for the first few years, I loved going to my classes. Gymnastics seemed like my ticket to the most prized virtues of conventional femininity: grace, flexibility, balance, poise.

I would say it's common knowledge that gymnasts are tiny. To be a professional gymnast, you have to be short, preferably under 5 feet tall. You also have to be light, usually 100 pounds or less (even after the muscle they put on training). The taller and bigger you are, the more difficult it can be to maneuver on the apparatuses. It is a sport that is truly size discriminate.

I took instantly to the sport when I began my classes. I could point my toes beautifully and effortlessly, and I'm naturally very flexible. Initially, it seemed like my experience in gymnastics was going to lead to good things for me.

But gymnastics is what first made me conscious of my size. My idol was Dominique Moceanu, who was part of the gold medal winning 1996 Olympics team (aka The Magnificent Seven). To me she was the epitome of grace and I aspired to be just like her. Looking at the picture, you can see just how tiny she was.

The problem with me aspiring to be just like her was that by the 5th grade I was already several inches taller than her and outweighed her by about 30 pounds. I remember often looking at the poster of the Magnificent Seven that was displayed in the gym. I studied their stats, and it didn't take me long to figure out that at 11 years old I was already taller and heavier than all of them. I believe Moceanu was the smallest one on the team, so that made it all the more painful for me as a little big girl.

It got to the point where my coaches, who were tiny gymnasts themselves, often struggled to spot me and I reached a point in my training where my coaches and I knew that I would no longer progress. And I knew I would never be able to become the gymnast I really wanted to be. That and the other little girls teasing me about my size and making fun of my fat little butt struggling on the balance beam led to me quitting.

I was entering puberty at that time and knowing I would never be what I wanted to be because of my body made those traumatic physical changes all the more painful.

That was the first instance of many in my life where I absolutely hated my body. Where I felt like my body stood in the way of what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be.

That was my childhood dream deferred.

I can't find words to describe how this lecture from Randy Pausch moved me. All I will say is that it is too important not to watch.

Randy Pausch passed away on the 25/7/2008.

As an adult, I can say that I've never bought a box of blueberry muffin mix and eaten it all straight from the bowl. That'd be kinda gross. I mean, seriously...

Well, the other day I was at a Cold Stone Creamery. And to my surprise (and delight), they had a new flavor... Blueberry Muffin Mix Batter.

It is delicious. Sure, it's all synthetic and got stuff in it that's bad for us... but, it's probably better than eating a big ass bowl of muffin mix.  'Cause for me that's not a stretch when you get right down to it.

Back to music bloggin' tomorrow... Secret Chiefs 3 in Portland is tonight.

~Dan - np: Greydon Square - The CPT Theorem

It's something that we tend to forget when we "grew up". It's something that was thrown out the window when life and pragmatism came along, bowled you over and kicked your teeth out. When you realized that it is "unrealistic" or "not practical" to go for these dreams. That it is more important to satisfy your stomach than it is to fulfill your "kiddish" goals.

Do you still remember what YOU wanted to be when you grow up?

And if I ask you now what you want to be, would your answer be "Rich"?

And what does it mean to be "Rich", exactly?

Just browsed through a copy of "The 4 Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss recently. He challenged the fact that people want to be rich in cash. He claims that

"$1,000,000 in the bank isn’t the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows."

He talked about the "Nouveau Riche", a class of people that do not want to wait till retirement to enjoy the "fruits of their labor", but rather using technology and some dirty tricks, earn money while taking "mini retirements" throughout their lives.

Sounds good to me so far.

But the truth of the matter is that a lot of us don't have the stomach for "dirty tricks".

According to my favorite Wikipedia, Nouveau Riche (French for "new rich"), or new money, also refers to a person who has acquired considerable wealth within his or her generation. While I disdain people (me included) who slave for money in jobs they loath, I believe a job and job satisfaction are crucial in the overall happiness of a person.

I think some of the happiest people in the world are those that truely enjoy what they are doing. Don't know how true this is, but apparently Warren "I don't really need any more money" Buffett was quoted as saying

'I tap-dance into work, and then I read and talk on the phone for seven or eight hours, and then I go home and read some more,''

I think that would be my perfect definition of Nouveau Riche.

1. Be a rockstar

2. Be famous

3. Crazy Riches

4. Fall in Love and be happy
The man lecturing in "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" said that brick walls are there to keep the ones that don't want stuff bad enough from getting close. They're there to constantly remind me of how badly I want something and if I learned anything from this year, it was about working hard and growing and learning and going out there and proving yourself for all you were worth because you know you're worth a damn lot. I know I deserve a lot in the future but it's up to me to work hard to get there. I can't expect to just sit here and have things coming to me. I think, if anything, my breakup last September was one of the best things to have happened to me. I didn't see it then...but it was a blessing in disguise. I never could have grown as much as I did without that breakup. I would have stayed in a static limbo--content with all the world.

Last thing. I love Nathan with all my heart =)

-I think I'm a tigger with eeyore tendencies.

I don't care what philosophy or faith you follow, or how you lead your life. If you observe the truly happy people in this world they will always point to the same principle having made them happy.

True love manifests itself when someone elses happiness is more important than yours

"It is not the things we do in life that we regret. It is the the things we do not."

"Passion... you will not find that passion in things... you will not find that passion in money.... that passion will be grounded in people."

Thanks Randy, for being a great example!

This man was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and had only about six months left to live. However, before he and his family heard this diagnosis, he had been selected to give "The Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University, that they have every year and was renamed "Journeys" before Professor Pausch was to speak.

When this man gave his speech, in light of his terminal illness, he did something that most people probably do not do. He took this chance to write about how he had achieved his childhood dreams and how others can do the same.

I saw him on Oprah and then I read through his book in the bookstore and I was crying because I was reminded how much one individual can truly influence other people's lives. I cried because I thought of his wife who loved him so much and who he loved so much, and who he was leaving behind on this Earth. I cried for his three young children who would not be able to experience their father's exuberant spirit, unfaltering determination, and true intelligence. I cried because for some reason, this man was chosen to pass away and be a conduit for so many of us still remaining on this Earth -- to not only remind us but to quite possibly show us a way to happier, more fulfilling lives. And I cried because I know that nothing happens by accident and that everything does happen for a reason -- and I hope that people will recognize that and remember that and carry his lessons with them throughout their lives.

Here is to not just Randy Pausch and the indelible mark he left upon this world, but to us and the indelible marks that we are leaving and we will continue to leave upon this Earth. Let us strive every day to live our best lives and be our best selves.

Remember that each moment, each day is truly a blessing...truly it is.

Photo by tanakawho; creative commons license

Over lunch with "Luna," we heard the news that Professor Randy Pausch of the now-famous "Last Lecture" had passed away.  We both paused, tears in our eyes, to honor this man we had known only through his lecture and subsequent book on fulfilling childhood dreams.  He was an inspiration to us both, and today was no exception.

I also left our lunch time with a greater admiration for Luna.

She told me of a science-fiction TV episode--Stargate, I believe--which she'd recently watched with several other people, about a race of people with a lifespan of 100 perfect days.  Afterward, someone posed the question:  would you rather live forever (or even, say, 80 years) of "this" or would you rather live 100 perfect days?  Everyone, with the sole exception of Luna, had agreed that they'd want to keep right on living, no matter how hard life can be at times. 

Luna's dissenting opinion stirred quite a controversy.  What?  She'd be happy to live only 100 perfect days?  Was she suicidal?  Insane? 

Have any of us had 100 perfect days?  she asked me.  And I reluctantly agreed.  Finding 100 perfect days in 365 days a year for 80 years is not as easy as it might sound.  And especially not 100 consecutively perfect days. 

Luna is one of those extremely rare people who is totally, completely content with her life.  There is no great goal left that she aspires to.  She has fulfilled all her dreams and lives in harmony and fun, every day, with only a few glitches to deal with here and there.  She is happy, confident, spiritual, sound, deeply in love with her husband, and appreciative of her friends.  She is not reckless or eager to die, but she is ready to die should that time come before 80 years or before forever. 

Many people talk about finding peace of mind.  She has, and I'm glad she shared her contentment with me.

"It all began with one, age-old question: What would you say if you knew you were going to die and had a chance to sum up everything that was most important to you?

That question had been posed to the annual speaker of a lecture series at Carnegie Mellon University, where Pausch was a computer sciences professor. For Pausch, though, the question wasn't hypothetical.

Pausch, a father of three small children with his wife Jai, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer -- and given six months to live.

Friends and colleagues flew in from all around the country to attend his last lecture. And -- almost as an afterthought -- the lecture was videotaped and put on the Internet for the few people who couldn't get there that day.

That was all it took."

- G. Martz, S. Wender, and C. Franscani via ABC News

This is that video.

The gentleman who gave this lecture, Randy Pausch, has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 47.  He is survived by his wife and 3 children who, as a result of this video and the work that came after, hopefully will be able to understand a man they won't fully remember.  And more importantly, understand just how much he loved them.

In an interview with Diana Sawyer, he irreverently prompted her to ask the question that everyone's been asking.  "You didn't ask about the movie" he points out.  Diane sits back down and asks "What about a movie?"

"It's impossible," he says "no one Hollywood is beautiful enough to play my wife."

A lady in blue came to me to give me this story for ‘Apar’

Prince Charming

When I was a girl I had a dream. My dream was to marry a prince who would love me forever. That was my dream. Now, I knew there weren’t many princes about, but never the less I thought I might find someone who was ‘prince like’ enough for me to want to marry him. And of course he would want to marry me. Why not? I was beautiful. I had long golden hair and my mother told me I was beautiful. In fact when I became a teenager I think I was too beautiful for my mother. I think she became a little jealous of me, just as I was becoming more beautiful, she was becoming less beautiful. She was always fretting about the next wrinkle that appeared on her face and the weight that was growing on her hips. She didn’t seem to love me as much.

My mother and my father split up when I was about twelve. It happened gradually. He started to go away for his work. He was away more and more. My parents used to argue about it.

My dad said ‘How can I earn the money if I stay at home? There is nothing for me here.’

My mother said ‘I am here for you, you don’t have to drive lorries, you could work in the store.’

My father refused to work in the store.

‘That’s the last thing I want to do, seeing the same old faces day in, day out.’

‘It’s not so bad,’ my mum said, ‘I do it. I wouldn’t have to employ Francis if you would work with me.’

‘You’d get sick of me,’ my dad would say.

‘I’d never get sick of you, Honey,’ she’d say, ‘I love you.’

‘Yeah, I know, I know.’

My father didn’t seem to like to hear that my mother loved him. I never heard him say he loved her.

Gradually, as the months and years went by, my father drifted away.

My mother ran the shop and father disappeared. If I asked about him she would say, ‘He never loved us. We weren’t exciting enough for him. He’s got hot feet. He has to cool them on the road, up in the mountains, in the streams, in the lakes up north. He couldn’t cool his feet here.’

I had told my mother about my ‘Prince’ when I was a little girl. As I grew up sometimes she would refer to him.

‘Trouble is, Honey, you can’t rely on princes to buoy you up. You’ve got to do it for yourself. You gotta learn to look after yourself whoever you spend your time with. You can enjoy his company for a while, maybe for a long time, or forever, but unless you feel good and strong in yourself he won’t be staying anyway. Men don’t like women to be hanging on to them, depending on them too much. That’s the trouble with princes, they want to do everything for you in the beginning, then they get bored and they’re off. And women who have had everything done for them don’t know how to do it for themselves and feel lost.

So don’t spend too much time thinking about how beautiful you are and whether you’ll find your prince. Find out who you are and what you like doing, and what you can learn so you can enjoy your life and earn a good living too. Keep yourself healthy and strong. Be a friend and you will have friends.’

My mother and I got closer after my teenage years when she had settled into her life without my father and I was less self centred and hormonal. We get on fine now. She has become a good friend along with several others that I have. And I do have a man, and he isn’t a prince, and I don’t know if he is going to stay forever. It doesn’t seem to matter too much because I know I can look after myself if I need to, and he can look after himself too, so I don’t have to worry about him. We share the work and the play, and that’s good.

This is very inspiring, motivational, and sad. Randy Pausch died today from complications attributed to pancreatic cancer.

Pausch died at his home in Virginia, Carnegie Mellon University spokeswoman Anne Watzman said. Pausch and his family moved there last fall to be closer to his wife's relatives.Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006.His popular last lecture at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007 garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on the Internet.

The book "The Last Lecture," written with Jeffrey Zaslow, leaped to the top of the nonfiction best-seller lists after its publication in April and remains there this week. Pausch said he dictated the book to Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer, by cell phone. The book deal was reported to be worth more than $6 million.

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008 gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. For more, visit www.cmu.edu/randyslecture.

Check out these websites that feature interviews of Randy Pausch:

Prof Pausch on OPRAH

TIME: 10 Questions for Randy Pausch

     "Did your dream come true, Mommy?" he asked a few moments later. We were in the midst of puzzle building and I didn't really think we were having the same conversation we were having a few moments before. I asked him what he was talking about, and sure enough he was still in the same vein. "Did you become all those things you wanted to be?"

     I was sort of dumbfounded for a moment. How does one answer that question to a literal child? My dreams simply changed from childhood to adulthood, as most dreams do, so I didn't want to make him feel as though my dreams didn't come true. Yet there's likely a real possibility C will become one of his current career aspirations, so I also didn't want to dash his dreams by saying dreams change.

     Sure, the sight of blood and needles makes me swoon, so becoming a nurse/doctor really fell off my radar screen at about age 10. And yes, I did actually do the pageant thing for awhile, and also did the urban cowgirl thing for awhile. I even taught ballroom, country and Latin dance at Fred Astaire Studios, so I guess in a way, I did do some of those things, but I didn't think that was the answer he was waiting to hear. As I sat there, pondering the meaning of life and trying to answer this child's question without ruining his day, he reminded me that sometimes I overthink him. He simply continued on in his one-sided conversation and said, "Because I want to be a puzzle maker, and I can be anything I want to be."

     You're right, C, you're right.

Sometimes when I drag myself to work in the mornings, I stop and wonder how I ever ended up working in a federal government office. It's by no means a horrible career -- good job security; the people are okay and the pay and benefits aren't too bad.  But it's boring and pointless and I keep thinking there must be a more productive, more meaningful way to spend 8 hours of my life every day.

Federal public servant never once came up in any of the dreams and aspirations I had as a child.  I had a lot of other crazy career goals as a youngster:  farmer, boss, detective, scuba diver, psychiatrist, undertaker, meteorologist, rich person, chef, crossing-guard....The list is endless because I wanted to be something different every week.

I envy and admire people who've known what they wanted to be since they were infants and pursued that goal/passion with single-minded determination. I've always been all over the map.  However:

Some careers I think maybe I should have pursued:

• TV writer
• Lawyer
• Barber
• Stand-up Comic
• Journalist

 And, some careers I'm really glad I didn't end up with:

• Mall washroom maintenance person
• Prostitute
• Oprah's PA
• Dental Hygienist
• Crab fisherman

After listening to Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture audiobook, I started thinking about my own childhood dreams and whether I'd achieved them.  Most, I have, but of course, I'm not stopping there.  I added to the Dream List throughout my teen years and throughout my adult life, so I have no plans of quitting now.

But, just for grins, I looked back over a few of the important ones in my childhood, especially the ones that I was told were ridiculous or out of reach. 

1.  I wanted to be good with a sword. 

I not only loved sword and sorcery movies as a kid but couldn't get enough of medieval history.  I remember hiding in my room with the encyclopedia, devouring pictures of Joan of Arc and stories of her sword from the angels.  As a mom to two elementary school girls, I took up fencing and found--no surprise--that I loved it.  For about five years, I competed in local tournaments (because of work and the girls' care, travelling to tournaments was out of the question then) and played Xena in different stage-fencing events for charity.   Probably the most memorable events were the bouts where swords actually got broken  or the time Pirate Bob's ill-aimed sword got too near my Pirate Queen face and went through my large hoop earring.  It's probably a good thing my knee took me out of fencing before it took me out.

2.  I wanted to be a Druid, wear long black capes, and "do" magick.

Ever since I read The Faraway Lurs, I wanted to be a Druid, though--technically--not a Druid sacrifice.  Something about that book resonated with me.  I didn't become a Druid--I studied Wicca instead, and became a black-cape-wearing High Priestess and honors the Elements and does magick regularly.  I take meditative journeys and have lots of friends who are (officially) Druids, not to mention all the shamans, Wiccans, witches, pagans, heathens, and people who refuse to give their spiritual path a name.

3.  I wanted to have super powers.

I grew up watching Lynda Carter playing Wonder Woman.  In fact, I have large pewter cuffs I often wear now and joke about how they're great for bouncing bullets.  I never realized I had "super powers" already until my daughters mentioned how I'm very intuitive at times and have a strong enough sense of empathy that I can often know or feel what someone's thinking or when they're in trouble.  It's a heightened sensitivity, but not everyone has it.  It's both a blessing and a curse, true to the requirements of any legitimate super power.

4.  I wanted to be a writer.

Not just a writer but a (ooh appropriately here) published writer.  A famous one, too.  Of course, I've learned over the years that I always was a writer, even when I was 9 years old, and the being published part is just another step in pushing my energy out into the world, and I've done that with several publishing house now, under my own name and others.  As for fame, there are many levels of it, and I've decided over the years that I'm not interested in being a household name.  I like NOT having that level of attention--or the scandal that comes with it.  I do have plenty of famous writer friends, and it's just no big deal.  I may once have envied that kind of fame, but I no longer care to have all those energetic ties reaching out to latch onto me.  (see empathic superpower above)  Celebrity, even on a small scale, is tiring.

5.  I wanted to travel to  all over the US and to interesting places in the world that I'd read about as a child.

My career as a bomb and missile negotiator has taken me all over the US and to several other countries as well.  As a child, I was enthralled by stories of King Henry the 8th and his serial polygamy.  The first place I visited in Europe was London--and saw where Anne Boleyn was beheaded, the rooms of the famous Tower, and later even King Henry's wine cellar.   At 13, I sang in a class production--a song about the Temple of the Sun--and last ChristmasEve and Christmas Day I visited several temples of the sun in Mexico with my daughters. 

Okay, so I think I'm off to a pretty good start!  Time to add some more dreams.

Video

Boys call you sexy (What's up, sexy)
And you don’t care what they say
See, every time you turn around
They scream your name

Now I've got a confession
When I was young I wanted attention
And I promised myself that I’d do anything
Anything at all for them to notice me

But I ain't complaining
We all wanna be famous
So go ahead and say what you wanna say
You know what it's like to be nameless
Want them to know what your name is
'Cause see when I was younger I would say

When I grow up
I wanna be famous
I wanna be a star
I wanna be in movies

When I grow up
I wanna see the world
Drive nice cars
I wanna have groupies

When I grow up
Be on TV
People know me
Be on magazines

When I grow up
Fresh and clean
Number one chick when I step out on the scene

But be careful what you wish for
'Cause you just might get it
But you just might get it
But You just might get it

They used to tell me I was silly
Until I popped up on the TV
I always wanted to be a superstar
And knew that singing songs would get me this far
 
But I ain't complaining
We all wanna be famous
So go ahead and say what you wanna say
You know what it's like to be nameless
Want them to know what your name is
'Cause see, when I was younger I would say

I see them staring at me
Oh I'm a trendsetter
Yes this is true 'cause what I do, no one can do it better
You can talk about me
'Cause I'm a hot topic
I see you watching me, watching me, and I know you want it

Be careful what you wish for
'Cause you just might get it
You just might get it
You just might get it

Questions for discussion (by Samuel Thambusamy)

What is this song all about?
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When I was young I wanted attention And I promised myself that I’d do anything Anything at all for them to notice me. Why do young people seek attention? What do young people do to get the attention (in your context/s)? What do you think about these?
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They used to tell me I was silly Until I popped up on the TV. We live in a success oriented world. Nothing succeeds like success. How does success redefine what we do and say?
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We all wanna be famous. Sociologist talk about the Page 3 phenomenon. What do you think about this?

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When I grow up /I wanna be famous/I wanna be a star/I wanna be in movies/ When I grow up/I wanna see the world/Drive nice cars/I wanna have groupies
When I grow up/Be on TV/People know me/Be on magazines
When I grow up/ Fresh and clean/ Number one chick when I step out on the scene
What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?
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I'm a trendsetter / Yes this is true 'cause what I do, no one can do it better/You can talk about me/'Cause I'm a hot topic / I see you watching me, watching me, and I know you want it. How much of what we are and what we do is for others? to be noticed? and talked about? How much of it is really for ourselves?
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Be careful what you wish for/ 'Cause you just might get it/ You just might get it/ You just might get it. Why must we be careful about what we wish for? If we get what we want if there a problem?

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