Happy Birthday Jon Bon Jovi!

Happy Birthday Jon Bon Jovi! Damn, 50 looks good on you.

I first fell in lust for Jon Bon Jovi when I was in high school and that lust has continued for over two decades. My high school boyfriend took me to see Bon Jovi at the Rosemont Horizon during the Slippery When Wet tour. We were in the 6th row.

Since then, I've seen live Bon Jovi a couple more times, including four years ago. And in 20+ years, Bon Jovi just keeps getting better and better.

Here are a couple of my favorite Bon Jovi songs:

I'll Be There for You because of a different high school friend and all that he meant to me during my senior year.

Hallelujah - such a beautifully haunting song. One of my most favorite songs ever.

Wanted Dead or Alive

It's My Life

(You Want to) Make A Memory

Finally, You Give Love a Bad Name - because of the first man to break my heart.

Let's Talk About Apologies or How Rush Limbaugh Blew It . . . Again

You may have recently heard that Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown University Law student Sandra Fluke "a slut" and many other even more vile things because she had the audacity to attempt to testify before Congress about how birth control for women isn't always about preventing pregnancy, how it is often used to treat real medical issues quite successfully, and how women desperately need birth control to be covered by all insurance plans. In short, birth control is a women's health matter.

You can imagine how repulsed I am that anyone would attack a woman in this way. It's vile, misogynistic, and shows Rush Limbaugh's ignorance. The damage of Rush's words went far beyond Ms. Fluke. (Read that, trust me.) What appalls me even more is that none of the GOP candidates for president could bring themselves to truly speak out against Rush. Instead, they all spoke around it. Clear Channel hasn't seen clear (pun intended) to do the right thing and suspend Rush. If they didn't own almost every single radio station, I would never listen to one of their stations again.

But I digress.

A number of days later, after digging himself further into the hole and losing seven (now at least nine) of his advertisers, Rush finally issued a statement "apologizing." Here's his apology:

A Statement From Rush

For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.

I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.

My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.

Because I didn't want to mess it up and I didn't want any commentary, I got that straight from Rush's website.

In my opinion, that is one of the worst apologies I've ever seen or heard.

First of all, notice the title "A Statement From Rush." WTF? Real apologies don't take 187 words of a 196 word statement to use the word "apologize."Second, Rush was being humorous? Please raise your hand if you think calling a woman a "slut" or a "prostitute" is funny. Anyone? Okay, so I see zero hands raised. We'll just all agree that calling a woman a "slut" or a "prostitute" is not funny. Ever. Third, he didn't mean to attack Ms. Fluke personally? Why did he carry on about her for days on end? Finally, what is that paragraph in the middle? Yes, we're living in serious times and we've got serious issues, but an apology isn't the time to try to divert people's attention.

When I was a kid, believe it or not, I misbehaved sometimes. Usually, it had to do with fighting with my brother, but once in awhile, I blatantly broke a rule or misbehaved in a way that required both punishment and an apology. Apologies were taken seriously in my house and we were drilled in them.

According to my parents, apologies required three things: (1) you must take personal responsibility and own your wrongdoing (apologies never contain "if, then" statements); (2) you must be remorseful and sincere; and (3) you must make reparations.

Based on these requirements, here's what I'll accept from Rush as an apology. Anything less is just more blowhardedness:

"I am genuinely and sincerely sorry to Ms. Fluke, all women, and all of my listeners for my vile and out-of-line slander of Ms. Fluke. Ms. Fluke did nothing to call for my personal attacks on her character and I should never have used the words "slut" and "prostitute" to describe her or any woman or girl. Attacking someone personally is the coward's way out. In no way does being on birth control reflect on anyone's moral character and my accusations were misogynist and just mean. To help undo some of the damage my reprehensible words have caused, I am immediately removing myself from the tv and radio airwaves without pay for one week and donating $1 million of my personal money each to NARAL, NOW and Planned Parenthood. Again, I sincerely apologize for my cowardliness not only to Ms. Fluke, but to all Americans."

I'm guessing he won't take my advice and issue the apology I've just created for him, but because I think this is such a big deal, I'll even let Rush use my words without giving me credit for them.

Owning My Own Home: The First 6 Months

Six months ago today, I woke up with a great amount of excitement and just a bit of panic. If everything went well at the final walk-through and barring any last minute surprises, I'd be a first-time homeowner before I went the day was over.

I won't tell you it all went smoothly because that would be a lie. But looking back at it all through the lens of owning my own home for 6 months, all the stress was worth it.

Within about 6 weeks of moving in, I was completely unpacked. I forced myself to live with bare walls for 2 1/2 months so I could be completely certain about the furniture placement and acquire a few important family heirlooms from my dad.

Possibly the smartest thing I did was to have my real estate agent measure each of the rooms and window and door locations and sizes during my inspection. I used her measurements to create a to-scale floor plan of each room and then drew all of my furniture to scale on separate paper and moved it all around on the floor plan until I got it right. When I moved in, I had the floor plans taped up in each room and it made placing the furniture easy peasy. I also had my entire kitchen set up before the movers arrived with my furniture. This meant I could immediately start cooking and knew where cleaning supplies, garbage bags, and toilet paper were located. All of my boxes were labeled with specific rooms with general content lists on the outside, so I could quickly unpack and not have to move boxes from room to room because they were placed correctly in the first place.

Six months later, my walls are decorated, I've got curtains in the living room and dining room (I am still curtain-less in my bedroom and office), wine has been spilled on the carpet (white, not red), I've thrown my first parties and feel settled in my home. Betsey and Ross officially have a Cat Cave under my bed, have picked their favorite pieces of furniture, and know where the warmest spots are based on the location of the sun throughout the day. They, too, have stained the carpet, but we're dealing with that. I've met a number of my neighbors and know which restaurants have the best delivery.

I've gotten into a routine in my home and I love that on the first of each month, rather than paying rent, I pay a mortgage, my condo is mine, and if I want to change the paint or the carpet or an appliance or anything else, I can do that.

Frankly, there were no fewer than a gazillion people involved in the purchase of my first home and I'm incredibly grateful for all the help and wise counsel I received. Purchasing my own home is the best decision I've made in a very long time and I couldn't be happier.

Happiness Is . . .

I wrote this yesterday, Monday, February 27th and forgot to publish it. Sorry!

All around me today, I've been bombarded with messages about happiness. I don't know what it is exactly, but something is definitely in the air.

First, this morning, I woke up feeling (tired and) joyful. I'm not sure why I was so happy first thing this morning, but I was. In fact, I'm fairly certain I woke with a smile on my face. I was just that happy. Awesome. I received my morning quote from The Happiness Project. Each day, I receive a delightful email with a quote about being happy. Love it. Then I received an email from Simple Truths with a movie about finding your way to happiness and a few lovely quotes. Love it more. Finally, a friend posted a quote about happiness on his Facebook wall. Love it best.

Clearly, the universe was telling me that I should be all about spreading happiness today.

Happiness Quotes:

"Happiness belongs to those who are easily contented." - Aristotle

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandi

The Road to Happiness Movie

It's the Little Things . . .

I was catching up on my favorite blogs a few minutes ago when I ran across a post from my friend Elise that I'd somehow missed when she originally posted it 11 days ago. Elise is a student at Lake Forest College I've had the incredible privilege to know over the past two years. This semester, she's studying in Botswana and documenting her experience in a delightful blog, Miss Post-it Goes Global. The post, Rising to the Challenge, is about her struggle to find the little things that make her happy while learning to adjust to life in a foreign country.

Elise reminded me tonight that it's the little things that matter the most, so I thought I'd take few minutes tonight to take stock of the little things that make me the happiest.

It's the little things that make me happy . . .

• watching the sunrise in the morning and the sunset at night
• crawling into my pre-heated bed each night thanks to my heated mattress pad
• being woken at night by Betsey or Ross given me "kisses" on my eyelids
• finding a rainbow
• lunch at home in the middle of a busy work day
• a freshly washed car
• fresh white grapefruit
• freshly painted toenails
• a hug
• an ice-cold glass of water
• sitting across the dinner table from a very special friend
• a handwritten note of praise or just telling me to have a good day
• an unexpected phone call from a friend "just because"
• finding cash in my pocket, even if it's just a dollar or two
• fresh off the vine, perfectly ripe tomatoes (not the ones they sell in the store, the ones off the vine 10 minutes ago)
• tulips, stargazer lilies, and daisies
• fresh cut lavender
• a full tank of gas in my car
• sand between my toes
• a hot shower
• thunderstorms
• sitting in front of a warm fire
• the Northern Lights
• snuggling on the sofa
• a good book
• mashed potatoes with lots of butter and garlic
  
• sweet corn on the cob
• Michigan cherries
• a clean condo
• swimming
• the smile on someone's face when I do something or say something that makes them happy
• doing Random Acts of Kindness

There are many other "little things" that make me happy as well, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind. What makes me happiest is that I've experienced 17 of those items since Saturday, so in the last 4 days.

I hope you have an equally long list of little things that make you happy each day.

Mary Kay and PETA

Disclaimer: I am a Mary Kay Consultant and I have been since 1998. These are my opinions only and I do not speak for Mary Kay Inc.

Early this morning, I discovered a post on Facebook by The Huffington Post called "Avon, Estee Lauder, and Mary Kay Allegedly Testing Makeup on Animals." (The article originates on the Mother Nature Network blog). As I type this, the Facebook post has 165 comments, 202 likes, and 459 shares and I have yet to find one in support of any of these companies.

I'm not going to reprint the article. You can read the article for yourself. What I do want to tell you is that I think this is a huge blow-up over nothing. That's correct. Nothing.

I'm not in favor of animal testing. In fact, I think it's disgusting and unnecessary. My cats, Betsey and Ross, will confirm that I do not conduct any animal testing. Thankfully, the United States and many other countries around the world feel the same way I do.

China, however, does not. China requires animal testing. In order to be in the skin care and makeup business in China, you must test on animals. Let me be clear: I think this is horrible.

The Huffington Post article is very clear about an important point: Mary Kay tests on animals in China because the Chinese government requires them to do so and the company is working with the Chinese government to help them see the errors of their ways. "...the Chinese government requires animal testing for beauty products sold in China, and PETA reports that ... Mary Kay has been trying to work with the government to come up with new testing solutions for cosmetics that don't involve animals." The article goes on to say that Estee Lauder and Avon have not voiced complaints and are simply going along with China's animal testing requirements. I don't know anything about how Estee Lauder and Avon are dealing with China on this, so I'm not going to comment on it.

Mary Kay operates in over 35 countries around the world. Only one of them, China, requires animal testing. The skin care and makeup products Mary Kay tests in China are only sold in China. And again, Mary Kay is working with the Chinese government to show them that animal testing is both unsafe and ineffective.

Many people commenting on Facebook are calling for boycotts against Mary Kay, Avon, and Estee Lauder to make them pull out of China. But here's the thing: When you boycott Mary Kay and Avon, your boycott is actually against small business owners. Women, like me, who earn income from the selling Mary Kay and Avon. We live and work in every community. We are your neighbors. We spend money locally. When you stop doing business with us, you in turn, remove money from your community. You will be hurting your friends and your community.

Even if Mary Kay, Avon, and Estee Lauder pull out of China, it won't do anything to change the animal testing policy. The policy will still remain.

Here's the part of the outrage that gets me: How many of those who are calling for boycotts of Mary Kay over government required animal testing in China read the article and commented on it using products made by Apple? Apple has been in the news lately and will be featured tonight in an ABC Nightline story about its human rights practices (violations?) in building the iPhone, iPad, and computers in China. (Disclaimer: I'm an all Mac house. I love my MacBook and my iPhone. Don't try to take them away from me.) And, of those folks, how many of them claim to be "pro life"? How many of them have given up their Apple products in protest?

Why are people more outraged about animal testing than possible human rights violations?

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to distract you by saying "sure Mary Kay tests on animals in China, but another company is worse." I'd really just like people to think before they get reactionary and to think about the true impact of their actions.

I'm proud to be a Mary Kay Consultant and I'm proud of our animal rights record. I'm proud that we work with governments to change policies. And I would suggest that rather than boycott companies like Mary Kay, we all voice our collective outrage to the Chinese government itself.

A Comment on Comments

Little Merry Sunshine received a new comment today on a post I wrote almost three years ago and was in no way controversial. It wasn't about politics, sex, religion, or even the combination of all three.

The anonymous commenter simply said that I need "alot of professional help." His or her misspelling, not mine.

Here at Little Merry Sunshine, I welcome the dialogue that intelligent comments bring. Heck, even the unintelligent comments often bring some value. And I'm very open to letting all political or religious views be expressed. I think we all have something to offer and although I can't say that any comments I disagreed with have ever changed my mind, Little Merry Sunshine readers often give me something to think about. I welcome that.

But here's where I draw the line: Bullying.

I'm a huge fan of the First Amendment. I hate censorship. I also hate censorship on my blog. I hate being that person who doesn't let people speak their mind. But if you want to be a bully and make personal attacks against me or my readers or if you want to threaten me, then I'm not going to let your words see the light of day.

If you want to be a bully, you'll have to go play in someone else's sandbox because you're not welcome here. Haven't you read the description under the title of Little Merry Sunshine? It talks about that I believe in building others up and celebrating what's good in the world. Sometimes that good is David Beckham in his tighty whities (oh, Lord, is THAT good!). Sometimes that's about equal pay for women.

Here's what it's not: It's not telling me I need professional help while hiding behind the name "anonymous." If someone has something to say to me, about me personally, have a backbone and use your name and say it to me.

I read a lot of blogs. Sometimes I disagree with what the authors say and I may leave a comment sharing my point of view. But you know what I never do? I never personally attack a writer. Why? Because it's mean spirited and 12-year-old girlish. And I sure as heck never do it under that handle of "anonymous."

I don't really have a lot of rules on my blog. In fact, I don't think I have any rules. But now I do, so here they are:

1. Play nice

2. See #1

Disagree with me if you want. Let's have a dialogue. Just play nice.

If you can't follow the rules, please don't come here.

Love, Valentine's Day Style

However you celebrated Valentine's Day, I hope it was exactly the way you wanted it. If you are not currently in a relationship, I hope you took today to shower yourself with some extra TLC. You deserve it. If you're in a relationship and felt some pressure to "do the right thing" (whatever that is), I hope you didn't step on any land mines and however you and your partner chose to celebrate made you feel loved.

I have to admit it, I used to think Valentine's Day was for the birds, but I've changed my mind. Don't misunderstand me, I still prefer someone who shows me he loves me through the small thoughtful vanilla everyday gestures to someone who never shows his love unless Hallmark tells him to, but there's something wonderfully delicious about the unabashed love that gets shown on Valentine's Day.

Here are a couple of great videos I discovered earlier today thanks to Scott Kleinberg on Twitter. I'm telling you, if you don't follow Scott, well, you are missing out. Just trust me. And go follow him.

First, the Valentine's Day Google Doodle. God love the Googles. What did we do without the Googles? Oh, and thank goodness for Tony Bennett. Speaking of romance, he brings it.

And my favorite video of the day, How Hollywood Says "I Love You" by Matthew Belinke from the website Overthinking It. Because I love you, (yes, that means YOU), I've included the transcript which I got off You Tube. Raise your hand if you can quote at least 75% of these lines from memory. Ya, me too.

TRANSCRIPT: I've been doing a lot of thinking, and the thing is, I love you. You are the epitome of everything I've ever looked for in another human being. Love is too weak a word for the way I feel. I lurv you. I loave you. I luff you. I sort of feel like I'm on drugs when I'm when you. Not that I do drugs, unless you do drugs, in which case I do drugs all the time. There's only one place in the world I call home and it's because you're there. I'd feel better sitting outside your apartment on the curb than any other place I can think of or imagine. I'm not waking up another morning without being able to look at you next to me. I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.

Can't you see what I'm trying to tell you, I love you! Very much. No other love but you. I love you. Like a sickness and its cure together. I love you. (Ditto.) I should have told you every day from the moment I met you. You complete me. Te adoro, Maria. I love you Chicken. I love you Honey Bunny. I think that's the only thing I've ever been really sure of in my entire life. You are the woman that I want. How many more times do I have to say it? (One more time would be nice.) You have bewitched me, body and soul. Whatever I am... I'm yours. I am so in love with you. You're the only one for me.

I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is. Love means never having to say you're sorry. Love is a many-splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love! Some people search all their life for this and never find it. You think this happens everyday? I love you dream woman! What do I have to do to prove it to you? Huh? You want the moon? You want me to renounce my throne? The wooing, the spooning, I am all in! Because when you find the one... you never give up. All I ever wanted... was you!

I love you. I love you. I love you. I've loved you more than any woman's ever loved a rabbit. I love you more than anyone has ever loved. I love you more than my life. I love you more than band music and cookie-making. I want to be with you. I made up my mind you were the only woman for me. I've loved you since the first day I met you, and I'll never stop. I'll love you always. Until your heart stops beating. 'Til the stars turn cold. Forever. I've never felt that before.

I love you. Can't believe how many times I'm saying it! I love you. Because I came alive when I met you. And there's only one person that makes me feel like I can fly. So I will wait forever for you, okay? I will wait the rest of my life. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day. I love you. I love you. I love you! I love you! I love you. I always have. And I always will. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of the life to start as soon as possible.

Just shut up... you had me at "hello."

Happy Valentine's Day.

As always, if you can't see the videos when you read LMS via email, click here so you can see the videos. They're worth it.

Valentine's Day Romance Tips from Rev. Al Sharpton

It's Valentine's Day and I'm sure you can all feel love in the air. I know I can. After my birthday, Christmas, Memorial Day, Easter, Ground Hog's Day, Casmir Pulaski Day, Flag Day (aka Birthday Eve), Pi Day, National Hotdog Day, Opening Day of Major League Baseball, Susan B. Anthony's Birthday, No Housework Day, National Duran Duran Appreciation Day, Valentine's Day is my absolutely favorite holiday. (Note: Those are all real "holidays". Use the Googles. You'll find them.)

I was going to share with you my suggestions for sweeping your love off his or her feet this Valentine's Day, but then my friend Steve posted the video below on Facebook and I see that the Reverend Al Sharpton has it all covered for me.

Given how much I love politics, I'm sure you won't be surprised how many of the good Reverend's suggestions could work on me this Valentine's Day. They won't, so no one should try any of them with me, but in theory they could.

As always, if you read Little Merry Sunshine via email, please click over to the blog and watch the video.

Whitney Houston RIP

In the midst of my first dinner party last night, a friend blurts out "Oh my God! Whitney Houston is DEAD!" We weren't talking about Whitney Houston or anything related to her, so I thought maybe he'd suddenly been afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome. He's been fighting a head cold all week and had just popped two Advil, so you never know. Immediately, the other three of us grabbed our iPhones, began scouring the interwebs for details. I flipped on the tv, but CNN, Headline News, MSNBC, Fox News, and even E! were all focussed on other "more important" things. Fortunately, we finally received confirmation from Scott Kleinberg on Twitter.

And then the inappropriateness began. Tim, walked into the kitchen for a refill on wine, saw Betsey and Ross's medicine shelf and started snapping pictures. A few moments later, thanks to Instagram, the world was treated to this:

@Tim State: "Supplies for a diabetic cat? Or found next to Whitney Houston?"

Yes, I know. Horribly inappropriate. The comments on Facebook ranged from "never too soon for a drug addict joke! LOL!" to "You are so not right." That was my favorite. Betsey and Ross refused to speak to Tim for the rest of the evening because they believe he violated their HIPAA rights, but the legal expert in the room claimed HIPAA laws don't apply to cats. Whatever. Clearly I was outnumbered.

As a teen, I loved Whitney Houston. I had all her albums on cassette tape and played them on an endless loop. In 1987, my mom, my friend Tiffany and I saw her in concert at Poplar Creek. Tiffany and I were in the cheap seats in the back, while my mom sat practically stage-side right next to Whitney's mom and famous singer in her own right, Cissy Houston.

Tiff and me in 1987 at the Whitney Houston concert at Poplar Creek. If you look closely, you'll see my Swatch on my wrist.

Even though it's been years since Whitney Houston was truly popular, there are a number of songs, that for me, transcend time and never fail to stop me in my tracks. In no particular order, they include her rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" at the 1991 Superbowl, her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" from The Bodyguard, "One Moment in Time" from the 1984 Olympics, and the a cappella version of "How Will I Know."

There may never be another singer who can handle this song the way Whitney did. It was the perfect way to unite the country with pride as we entered the first Iraqi war.

Another great love song. I'm sure we've all felt this way more than once. I love this song because you've got to have real vocal chops to sing a capella. No auto tuner. Just you.

Is it possible to listen to "One Moment in Time" without being completely inspired to be your best?


Here's Whitney singing "I Will Always Love You" from VH1's Divas Live Save the Music in 1999. It's the perfect way to remember her.

I imagine tonight's Grammy Awards will be quite moving. Whitney Houston will be missed. Voices like hers are a rare gift to the world. RIP Whitney Houston.