Everyone hopes to be loved for who they truly are on the inside. That is the human connection, a universal truth that has no age, time, or country boundaries. Love and affection are what we need most, besides air, in order to flourish and become who we are destined to be. Love and compassion are among our most transformative gifts. The tale we are about to experience is one of sorrow, heartache, and ultimately the affection of the human kind. It is a story from over a century ago that still has bearing on our current society’s behavior. It is a story we must learn so that we as a society learn from the past and stop repeating this behavior in the future. Joseph “John” Merrick was born in 1862 and by age two was already exhibiting symptoms of the illness that would take over his life. His body would become covered by so many tumors and out of control skin growths it would deform his physical appearance as well as ability. One hand, in fact the

Every year, whether I am writing about Thanksgiving or not, I try to always spend the day focused on how lucky I am instead of all of the so called bad things I wish I could change. I try to remember those who are truly suffering and pray for them. I try to review my year and count my many blessings, who are often those I will be spending the holiday with.  This is especially true when my year has been better than the last. This year is no different. I try to keep mindful of my blessings all year long, not just saving them for that time around the entrée when I like to go around and ask everyone what they are grateful for. While my life has many challenges I also know that I have witnessed many miracles and I do not take ANY of them for granted ( http://thequeenofckingeverything.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html ). You never know what tomorrow may bring. While I intend to reflect more specifically on the year of 2014 in a future

“What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a cabaret, old chum. Come to the cabaret”
 That is exactly what I did this past weekend. I mean who can pass up an opportunity like that? Certainly not me, and certainly not when the music is sung by Alan Cumming and Emma Stone. It all began way back in 1998, one year before I was to graduate high school. I know I am like a newborn pup. It was March of 1998 and the musical Cabaret had been revived. Prior to this it had its original Broadway run in 1966 with a revival in 1986. In 1972 there was the movie starring Liza Minnelli, you know Judy Garland’s daughter. Cabaret is based on book, Goodbye to Berlin, by Christopher Isherwood. It was also influenced by John Van Druten’s play, I Am a Camera. Back then I was not the professional theatergoer I am now. During that time I only had a handful of plays under my belt and definitely no list of shows I had to get to. My path to Cab