March 2005
Surviving
 
First Things First

After a tough January/February, that kept me from updating last month, I'm happy to say that March gets a nice update.  Vista Drive gets updates to all sections, including the Color and Black and White sections.  Those two sections weren't updated last month.

Coming March 20th is a new issue of American Bliss Magazine, hopefully.  I say hopefully because you never know for sure.  LOL  I hope you return for another visit then.  Or before, that would be nice too.  Enjoy the update.


Afterthoughts : Missing the Little things

It's been a little over a month now that my Grandmother passed away from stomach cancer.  The month has seemingly flown by.  When I told my Aunt that it was nearly a month since my Grandmother's passing she didn't believe it.  But every monday that goes by is another week without her.  I do miss my Grandmother so much.  And, like it is with the details, it's the little things that are missed, that cause the most sorrow.

I miss our talks, our long talks about this and that.  I spoke to her more than anyone else in my family.  I was the closest, and spent the most time with her.  I was nearly always at her side, and she was on mine.  Today there are countless times when I will start to go to her room to tell her about something.  Then I remember that she's not there.  I expect her to be around, in the other room, in the yard, anywhere but gone.  But that's what she is, gone, and it makes me sad.

I miss her voice, her advice.  She was that voice that kept me on the straight and narrow.  In short, she was my conscience.  Yet, her voice is still with me in a sense.  I will get in a situation, and I'm able to hear the advice she would normally give me in such cases.  Matter of fact, I find that I give others the advice that she would give.  It's like her voice is still speaking right into my ear.  I'm super glad that is still around.  I do miss our conversations however.  Having that give and take with someone is different from remembering something that you spoke of in the past.

I find that I bring my Grandmother up a lot these days.  I feel this rush of air when I bring her name up.  It's strange, like speaking her name reminds me that she's not around.  Simply because every time I speak of her it has to be in the past tense, and I very often say it in the present tense.  So automatically that reminds me that she's not around anymore.  Not that I needed a reminder.  But in talking to people it makes me feel strange to have to change the tense to the past.  That really makes me sad.


Editorial : Oscar fashions

Finding fashion don'ts is getting harder each year.  The red carpet has become a showcase for movie stars.  No one wants to be on the worst dressed list, and everyone is dressing to make it on the best dressed.  Basically the stars have caught on, and very few of them look bad on the red carpet nowadays.  Which is good, but also bad since it was so much fun to critique those who dressed bad.

Blue seemed to be the color of the year.  I'm not big on blue, but those who wore blue were plentiful.  Here is a quick look at a few of those who got it right, and a few that got it wrong.


The Good:
Hilary Swank's dress was one that grew on me the more I saw it.  At first glance it looked good, but that's because nipples are the evergreen accessory.  That is not to take anything away from a great dress on a great body.

Catalina Sandino Moreno looked absolutely radiant.  Again, a perfect example of a super dress, coupled with a beautiful woman.  That combination is impossible to beat.

Salma Hayek is an dream.  But what I liked is that she did something with her hair.  The pulled back look worked fine for many women, but it was good to see someone who took a few minutes (more likely hours) getting their hair just right.  Women on the red carpet don't get the hair right.  They get the dresses, and the accessories, right, but then fail with the hair.  It's sad.  Basically though, you couple a beautiful dress with a beautiful woman and you can't fail.


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The Bad:
Speaking of hair, Renee Zellweger's hair made me sad.  The color stunned me at first, and never stopped stunning me.  The dress is in my favorite color, but for some reason I didn't like it.  I think it's the hair that threw me, and I never recovered from that..

Melanie Griffith looked bad.  I think a dress like the one Melanie wore has potential in another color.  But in this metallic gray shade it simply doesn't work.  It also looks old, but not in a good way.  If this dress were fish it would be smelling awfully bad right now.

Regina King should have had a dress that fit.  The color is fine, and so is the overall style, except for that thing draped around her neck.  My main problem with the dress is the fit.  It looks like she slept in the dress, which is definitely not good.

As I said before, the stars know that they are being looked at up and down these days.  So it's harder to find the fashion don'ts, but definitely not impossible.


Etcetera : Miami Vice

If there is one show that defined the style and sounds of the 80's it is Miami Vice.  Blazing onto TV in 1984, Miami Vice was not an instant hit.  Put up against one of the biggest ratings grabbers at the time, Falcon Crest, Miami Vice was lucky to have survived.  Yet, it did, and it became a cultural icon.  When you think the 80s you automatically think Miami Vice.  For years the fans of the show hoped that it would come out on video.  Well, the show is now out on DVD, and it looks just as good as it did all those years ago.  It might be a little dated, people don't wear those clothes anymore.  However, the stories still stand up.  What people forget about the show is that it was a great show.  It wasn't just the clothes that set Miami Vice apart from every other show on TV, it was the style, the photography, and way the stories were told.  Episodes were stylized, and took on the new MTV quick cut, music over dialogue, approach.  Yet, the stories are what fueled my love of the show.  If you were as big a fan of the show, then the first season is a must.  I can't wait to have the whole series on DVD.  I've waited 20 years, and finally it's mine.  Get yours TODAY.


the Elsewhere archive