LindarInsights

Happy Birthday Sesame Street...Everything's A Okay

For days now, when I Googled, I have seen different Sesame Street characters on the site and I didn't think much about it until this morning. When I Googled I was tickled, like a little girl. I saw all of the Sesame Street characters surrounding the Google logo. So I clicked on the logo and discovered that today marks the 40th birthday of Sesame Street.

Then my mind raced to the fact that 6 days before my mother gave birth to me the stage had been set for my media learning. I remember being at home and watching Sesame Street, Zoom, The Electric Company and Mr. Rogers. Those shows were important to us and existed long before you had too many channels to name for children to sift through. It is pleasant to know that I share the age of a show that was so important to my childhood.

I can't remember the exact episode, but one of my favorite shows to watch was when Bert and Ernie were trying to measure out the same amount of soda and slice of pizza for each other. I used to love how they would get bothered when they realized one had more than the other. Don't we still do that today? lol

Both of my sons have been exposed to the show and now my youngest has many more to grow on. Each day our family is watching Sesame Street, Sid the Science Kid, WordGirl, Make A Word, and my favorite channel Noggin, which is now Nick Jr. We liked Noggin better. ;) Hint? Hint?

At school today we shared our Sesame Street experiences. My students found it funny and amazing that I was still excited about Sesame Street. I am still a kid at heart. I was so excited to come home and blog because all day I have waited to say Happy Birthday to Sesame Street!

Wait! Wait! Why did I find the link to my favorite episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to1QTsDMMxI&feature=PlayList&p=8E7AF32C387E33C1&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=28

6 day til 40 and I am loving every minute of it.

Lindar

Love T.K.O. by Pamela Yaye

I literally just finished reading Love T.K.O. and I so enjoyed it. It is the romantic story of two people for very different backgrounds who come together and share a love that neither knew existed.

Yasmin is a well educated therapist and Rashawn is boxer looking to become the World Champ. Falling in love is not easy for Yasmin since she lost her fiance a couple of years ago and Rashawn is tired of dealing with gold diggers. What they are not prepared for is the sacrifices it takes to take the relationship to the next level. Yasmin has to learn to relinquish her need to be in control and Rashawn has to be willing to let go of some of his independence.

By the end of the book I didn't mind that Yasmin was dating someone no one expected her to be with. She had found love. She had found her soulmate. I believe this love story speaks volumes to relationships today where women are often more established than the men they fall in love with. Love T.K.O shows that lasting love and relationships are capable of existing not matter the differences of the partners.

I Told Him No

See what had happened was.....lol

I just love to say that. At any rate this past week I was asked to do someone a huge favor. A favor that would put my name and credibility on the line. A favor that could forever effect the life of another person. No, it was not life or death. But it was still important.

See last year I thought this same person, asking for the favor, had the best interest of my family and me. Slowly I began to see that it was not all that I thought it to be. I did not mean for that to rhyme. So between the two of us we took on huge responsibilities where our children were concerned over the past year. When the responsibility became to much he discarded those responsibilities he took on and I was still trying to uphold mine. Mainly because I love children so much.

Now many months later, he is in the same situation he was this time last year. At some point we have to allow others to see the results of their decisions and actions. While I could intervene and assist him, I believe it would hinder more than help him. So this time I told him no. Hopefully from this he will grow and learn to not take those who really care for him for granted.

As for his situation, it is in God's hand and I am cool with that.

9 days til 40

Lindar

Breaking Out of My Comfort Zone

It has been a while since I sat and wrote a blog. I check on the site daily though. So here I go.

Tonight was a big night for some of my son's friends. They were playing their first playoff game tonight. I was told about this game well in advance and I thought we would attend the game as a family and hangout with other people we knew. Even my co-worker hyped up the game at work all weeklong. So I was ready to hang out, be cold and cheer the team on. At least until my son told me he had basketball tryouts tonight until 8:30. Well there was my evening of high school football shot down the drain.

My son goes to practice and the rest of us go to sleep. I am sitting at my computer and I get a text on my phone that Kyle had scored a touchdown. My co-worker just had to rub it in. He even offered to pay for all of us to get into the game. What a fan! I would have liked to have seen that too, you know? Then my co-worker tells me the 3rd quarter was just starting. It was about 9p.m. now. My son had come home and I am like, "Do you want to go to the game?" His response was, "Yeah, you can drop me off." I am like, "No, do you want to go the game? I am going too." He gives me this look like "Are you for real?"

See I like to kick it at home. I don't venture far often. Even when my son's AAU team and families get together I seldom come out. It's just how I have been over the years. Tonight though I thought about Kyle and the other players and how important our families have been to each other since the boys were in the 3rd grade. This moment tonight was big for everyone that attended. So I, battling a respiratory infection for days, put on my warm clothes, grabbed a handful of peppermints and headed out to a high school football game with my son. And they won!!!!! Go Cowboys!!!

Tonight I can say that I did something that I don't normally do and I think that I will do that more often. Step out of my comfort zone that is. Life definitely goes on as I sit at home watching t.v. and reading my favorite magazines. It was a little nippy out tonight but I got to see the boys play a good game and I reconnected with families I had not seen since last Christmas. I think I even shocked some people. Believe me I am one of last people that people expect to see out. I had fun and I feel good. Well....... not that good. So now I am going to get my teaspoon of prescription cough medicine and get deep into my comfort zone.

10 days til 40 and I am doing fine!!

Lindar

Intimate Conversations with Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young is the Essence bestselling author of the legal thrillers: Murder on the Down Low, In Firm Pursuit, Every Reasonable Doubt and the newly released Buying Time. The former journalist and Compton native is the fiction writing expert for BizyMoms.com and is on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Pamela served as legal consultant to the Showtime television series Soul Food. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of writing and self-empowerment.

Website: http://www.pamelasamuels-young.com/

Email address: author@pamelasamuelsyoung.com

• Where are you from? What is your favorite book? I grew up in Compton, California, which gave me a very grounded perspective on life. When I mention my hometown, people automatically assume that I dodged bullets on the way to school every day. But it was nothing like that. I had two strong, hard-working parents, who still live in Compton today. The foundation they laid – faith in God, hard work and education – is responsible for who I am and what I have achieved.

I'm an avid reader who enjoys reading both commercial and literary fiction. I enjoy a broad spectrum of writers, so it's impossible for me to pick a favorite book. But if there's one book that impacted me more than any other, it would have to be Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land. I can still remember stumbling across a copy of the book at my aunt's house when I was about twelve. It was the first book I remember reading that had African-American characters and I was thrilled to be reading about people who looked like me. It was also a very gritty and graphic coming of age story. I promptly "borrowed" the book without asking for permission for fear that my aunt would think I was too young to be reading such a sexually graphic book. After that, I developed an insatiable appetite for African-American fiction. That led me to James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Richard Wright, Toni Morrison and many, many other great writers.

• How did you feel when you saw your first book on the shelf? I still have a very vivid memory of seeing Every Reasonable Doubt on the shelf at the Barnes and Noble near my home in February 2006. I went to the store on the book's scheduled release date, not really expecting to find it. My stepson and I searched the shelves but couldn't find it. I was about to leave, but decided to, ask for it at the reception desk. To my delight, the clerk found it and led us to the book. I just stood there staring at it. So much blood, sweat and tears led me to this point. My stepson took out his cell phone and snapped a picture of me holding the book. And just as I started to started to tear up, he promptly warned me not to embarrass him by crying in the store.

• What is your process for creating a novel? Do the characters speak to you? I will spend any where from a few weeks to as long as three months outlining a book before I sit down to write. I also mull over my story a lot. I'm thinking about it in the shower, while I'm standing in line at the grocery story, during my 45-minute commute to work. I can almost see each chapter as if it were a scene in a movie. Only after I have a completed outline do I start writing. And when I write, I go from page one to the last page without doing much editing. For me, it's psychologically motivating to complete that first draft, even if it's so bad I'd never dare show it to anyone. Once I have a finished first draft, then the real writing starts. I revise, and revise and revise some more. That process can last six months or more.

• How do you spend your free time?Free time? What's that? Writing is how I spend my free time and I love every minute of it. I still work part-time as a lawyer and when I'm not at work, I'm usually someplace writing – be it at home, the library or the nearest Starbucks. Sometimes I write early in the morning before work, other times I'm up until one or two in the morning typing away on my laptop. My most productive writing time is when I can get away from home and lock myself in my timeshare in Palm Desert for a weekend. When I'm in that environment, the writing is non-stop. When I'm writing, I'm happy.

• Share with us your latest news and book releases. I’m extremely excited about the upcoming release of my fourth legal thriller and first stand-alone novel, Buying Time, which goes on sale November 1st. In Buying Time, Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer who comes to the aid of terminally ill people in desperate need of cash. Waverly finds investors eager to advance his dying clients thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker's fee for himself—in exchange for rights to their life insurance policies. Once the clients take their last breath, the investors reap a hefty return on their investment. When Waverly's clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly, and a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General, are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.

You can read excerpts from all my books at my website:
http://www.pamelasamuels-young.com/

To sche

dule a visit with Pamela, email her at author@pamelasamuelsyoung.com

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young
ISBN-10: 098156271X ISBN-13: 978-0981562711

Pick up a Copy Today at Amazonhttp://tinyurl.com/buyingtimeamazon

Pick up a Copy Today at Barnes and Noblehttp://tinyurl.com/buyingtimebnonline

Bookclubs, select one of Pamela’s novels for your book club meeting and she will join you in person, via webcam or via speaker phone.

Read more book excerpts here: http://www.pamelasamuels-young.com/books/index.html

Smokie Norful - Justified (Live)

The song has been moving me in some crazy ways! God did it!!!!

All I Need by Brian Courtney Wilson

I know what I want for Christmas...this cd!!!! What an awesome voice from heaven!

Loretta "Faith" Harris - The Journey Less Traveled

The Journey Less Traveled: Choose to Turn Your Tragedy into Triumph highlights Loretta's bout with death, grief, depression, anger and countless experiences, which she encountered after her tragic car accident on May 24, 2006. At some point in this life s journey, you will come face to face with tragedy. Enduring the hardship, while holding true to your faith and the promises of God are key components in your victory over any adverse situation. Readers of all ages, cultures, and experiences will relate to one woman s choice to triumph over her tragedy. This book has the potential to transform lives!

At some point during life's journey, you will come face to face with adversity. Enduring the hardship, while holding true to your faith and promises of God, are key components in your victory over these devastating encounters. As a survivor of tragedy, Loretta Harris speaks candidly about her encounter with death, the emotional upheavals, and her struggle to transition back into reality. Readers of all ages, cultures, and experiences will be empowered by one woman's choice to triumph over her tragedy. (Book info: ISBN-10: 0978668154) Buy the book today!

Key strategies include:
Seven Steps to Developing a Conqueror's Mentality

Face your adversity
Release your frustrations
Seek counsel
Search the scriptures
Develop faith-filled confessions
Recognize lessons learned
Take a stand

Loretta "Fatih" Harris author of, "The Journey Less Traveled: Choose to Turn Your Tragedy into Triumph"

Co-host of "Keeping It Real" Blog Talk Radio: www.blogtalkradio.com/keepingitreal

Website: www.chpublishing.org; Email: LHarris@chpublishing.org

Derrion Albert - The Impact of His Brutal Death

Last week I came home and read a headline about the death of a Chicago teenager caught on tape. Not thinking about my inability to handle death I looked at the video. I was not ready to see what I saw. Groups of young people in a chaotic situation, many of them looked as if they were still in their school uniforms. After a few minutes the video became blurry and I realized that I was seeing Derrion being hit not once, but twice. Although the image of him is blurred you see him trying to get up....and then....Oh! My God! Is this what our children do to each other? I saw him kicked and kicked and then my emotions were shot. My heart ached because I knew that this young man was now deceased and I had witnessed along with many on the the internet his violent death.

Later I learn that he was a young man who was being raised by his grandfather, an honor student, a quiet spirit who liked computers, and he was looked up to by his eleven year old sister. Now Derrion is gone. A sister will now have to rely on memories to keep her brother's spirit alive. A grandfather who knew the exact time each day his grandson put the key into the door, will forever be wondering what kind of man his grandson would have grown up to be.

I have struggled with this violent act since I watched the video, I even stopped writing to watch a portion of the video again. Why? I needed to see what I did not see before. Groups of people watching and only his friends coming to his aid when they realized what had happened to him. So not only is he beaten viciously, but to some degree he is ignored in the same manner. What is the impact of Derrion Albert's death to our community?

Are we discussing this with our friends and family? Are we praying for his family and the Chicago School System which has a high number of student killings over the years? Do we discuss it on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites? Are we participating in becoming part of the solution? Or will it just be another story placed in the archives next week?

Today thousands gathered to honor Derrion and to mourn him. I have heard comments on the radio from Nas, Bow Wow, and Jay Z. Derrion Albert's death is enormous. I don't expect the answers, to this crisis, to come from the White House, the Chicago Police Department, or the Chicago Public School System as to how we should raise our children to not be in jail for grabbing railroad ties and hitting someone upside their head that was not a harm to them. We should be able to answer for our children's actions, regardless of our education and socio-economic background. Derrion was already on the ground from being hit in the head and someone came and kicked him numerous times in the head. What does this crime say about those who committed it? Are our youth so angry that if you don't want to fight along with them then you get killed? Are they so mean spirited that you see this and you don't help the victim?

I can't imagine being Derrion's mother right now, knowing that I would never hear his voice again. I can't imagine being the mother of the four young men currently in jail for his murder, having to endure trials and the possibility of never seeing their child outside of the prison system. Five lives under 20 years old are gone! One taken forever. The saddest part is that the police department is looking for three more suspects. And for what? Nothing was gained for those who killed Derrion yet so much was lost for the families, friends, and community.

I wish there was more that I could say but the impact of Derrion Albert's death has been too much for me? What about you?

In Honor of Derrion Albert - Grandson, Son, Brother, Honor Student, Believer - May your death impact us all to want change in our communities and in our hearts.

Electa Rome Parks - Diary Of A Stalker

Never judge a book by its cover. . .

Xavier Preston is tall, dark, and handsome, and the problem is that he knows it. He's a bestselling author who is accustomed to adoring female fans, both young and old, flirting with him, throwing themselves shamelessly at him, and trying to get between more than the covers of his novels. He has always been more than willing to accommodate their needs and desires; however, his womanizing days have finally ended. He's engaged to a beautiful woman, Kendall, and he's decided to walk the straight and narrow. Or has he?

From outside appearances, the very stunning Pilar has it all: a great career, a beautiful home, and a trust fund that keeps her financially secure; however, looks can be deceiving. All that glitters isn't necessarily gold. Pilar is searching for her perfect soulmate, and she thinks she has found him in Xavier. She believes in going after what she wants with a vengeance . . . and she wants Xavier. That is not negotiable. She will have him, even if it kills him.

When Xavier meets his fanatical fan, Pilar, he gets much more than he bargained for. What starts out as an erotic one-night stand quickly spirals out of control into a dangerous game of obsession and pain with both parties playing to win.