Writer Vixen Explains It All

The Man with the Mac Has Left the Building

 

 

Even if you've never owned an Apple product, Steve Jobs's vision of a different world changed your life — over and over and over again. President Obama summed it up beautifully:  “There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

RIP Sir Steven. The world will be a less interesting place without your light inspiring us.

 

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

 Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

 

"I Have a Dream": Speaking from the Heart

Long weekends are awesome. Even when they're rainy, cold and dreary (hello Bay Area!) they still rock.

Martin Luther King is now remembered as much for giving us the first holiday of the new year (don't quibble with me over New Year's Day) as for his humanity. But thanks to the early days of television, we can still witness the passion and conviction that were the hallmarks of his short life. 

I'm a collector of fabulous speeches (there aren't many, so don't be too impressed—or, you know, too horrified) and they don't get much better than this one. Dr. King was a master of oratory. In an age where people gas on endlessly about every boring thing, King's "I Have a Dream" speech reminds us of the power of speaking truly, simply, and clearly from the deepest places of our hearts.

EXCERPT:

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

Happy Martin Luther King Day.

_______________________________

Twittering vixenish things @WriterVixen

Ted Kennedy: End of an Era

One of [the good] times was the day in 1986, when he gave niece Caroline away at her wedding to Edwin Schlossberg.

"She was so extraordinarily happy and joyous," he said. "And Jackie was absolutely radiant." 

After the wedding, Jackie wrote Ted a thank-you letter—a token of gratitude for what he’d meant to all the Kennedys over the years. The letter read:

There have been 17 children besides your own—Bobby's, Pat's, Jack's and mine, for whom you have always been there. Every graduation, every big decision, every trouble, every sad and even every happy day. On you, the carefree youngest brother, fell a burden a hero would beg to be spared. Sick parents, lost children, desolate wives. You are a hero. Everyone is going to make it, because you are always there with your love.

Jackie

[From "Ted Kennedy: The Last Brother" | Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times]

Farrah Videos

Ending the week on a lighter note, here are some fun vids of Farrah’s early days, before she got her big break with Charlie and the other gorgeous angels.

Let Farrah Cream Your Face

First up, the famous ad with Joe Namath, where she promises that Noxema will “cream your face” — a teenaged boy’s wet dream, right on your 1970’s television set.

I'm No Angel: Remembering Farrah

Best of Writer Vixen

I feel strangely sad about Farrah Fawcett's death. She was such a huge star during a formative period of my life. Growing up in the south, in the 1970’s, there were no feminine role models showing us how not to turn into our stay-at-home moms.

When Charlie’s Angels exploded on the scene it was a revelation to adolescent girls everywhere. Silly as the premise was, it showed women living on their own terms, creating independent lives born of their own desires and abilities. If that sounds a bit overblown for a typically implausible, air-headed Aaron Spelling creation, that just shows you how desperately we were seeking road maps to the women we sensed we could become, if only we could chart the route.

Farrah’s character, Jill Munroe, was successful in two male-dominated careers. Okay, so they were auto racing and boutique private investigation, but at least she wasn’t languishing in the pink ghetto. She held her own in her chosen profession, without clinging to a man or sacrificing her femininity. And if you think that’s no big deal, it’s because you didn’t grow up looking at Gloria Steinem, and then at your depressed, angry mother, thinking, These are my choices?