Happy Birthday, Sharon!!!!
Blogger and Friend Sharon, Ms. Write Now, turns 41 today! (That's her in the picture to the left with her son Ryan!)
I know she don't mind me telling her age... You see, Sharon's just not that type of person...
She is ageless...
And I LOVE her blog...
She is all about her family. She LOVES her family! She is one of 69 grandchildren...
(Now Sharon, you've got some family, hon! Was the old theme to Soul Train playing when you and the crew posed for this picture?)
But Sharon holds a special place in my heart... She has to be one of the most inquistive and brightest people I've EVER met...
I met Sharon in August of last year at the National Book Club conference in Atlanta... I think we were both in Tayari Jones' session... She asked poignant questions, while I sat there in awe, not saying a doggone word, just happy to see my favorite author speak... (I was half a second from passing out! LOL!)...
I didn't meet Sharon then... I just remember thinking "Dang, somebody just asked an important ass question! I gotta jot that down!"
But I didn't actually meet Sharon until Anita Digg's novel writing workshop... She sat in an empty seat next to me. We were both clutching our papers, feverishly taking notes...
And again, she asked important, probing questions...
... while I, Ladylee, sat there completely dumbfounded and stupefied, trying to soak up the tons of information we were receiving...
When the workshop was almost over, I remember Sharon mumbling something to the effect of "I need to take a class".
She'd asked a couple of questions concerning description... I tapped her on her shoulder and asked her for her email address because I'd found a couple of good books on the subject of description that really helped my writing...
I emailed her the references, and we have kept in touch via email (and now blog) every since then...
Sharon has to be the most positive person I've ever met in my life... So positive, so confident, so outgoing, so gung ho, with that high self esteem and self-love thang going on...
Geez, girl, I want to be like you when I grow up!!!
And when she leaves a comment on your blog, especially on serious or thought-provoking posts...
She drops knowledge like nuclear bombs...
But, um... I think I've gotten Sharon's whole comment process figured out...
Here's what I think actually happens when she is contemplating making a comment...
fade to black, fuzzy lines... THE SCENE
*Sharon sitting at the computer, thoughtfully reading a post she finds intriguing...*
"Hmm..," she breathes. "That was a good post. I think I shall leave a comment."
She thinks for a moment, and takes a sip of wine from her wine glass.
She reaches for the keyboard, prepared to type away, but instead decides to grab the large hand held microphone sitting next to the computer. She stands up, and a spotlight automatically highlights her...
She's all of a sudden on a stage, and a crowd of thousands has automatically gathered, because they know she is about to say something utterly PROFOUND. A hush falls over the immense crowd... It is so quiet, you can hear a pin drop...
It's almost like one of those old E.F. Hutton commercials...
Why, even the *Crickets* are quiet, wide-eyed and poised, longing to hear what pearls of wisdom Sharon will undoubtedly convey to the awaiting crowd...
Then she speaks...
(note: I've taken part of one of her random comments from another blog, in response to a topic surrounding envy, competition with others, and comparing and contrasting oneself with others...)
"The confidence in ourselves that can only truly come with age and experiences, allows us to move away from the tendency to do the compare and contrast exercise. This self-awareness regardless of what it is based in be it religious belief, spiritual beliefs, or some other system of faith, enables us to live, thrive, and flourish in our own skin. Once we gain this ability, we realize that comparisons to others have no validity in our world as the choices each of us makes for ourselves dictate what we have, achieve, and become."
The crowd is in awe... bathed in silence...
It is almost as if they are left without air...
Sharon doesn't wait for them to fully comprehend the ground breaking magnitude of what she has just said...
She just smashes the microphone to the floor, raises her hands high, bows before the crowd, and exits stage left...
fuzzy wavy lines... fade back to the present...
All I know, when Sharon leaves a comment, she leaves a damn COMMENT! Her words are like dynamite: when she speaks them, things are changed and rearranged... She has presented "the answer" to whatever the issue is at hand. It would take me weeks to come up with some of the comments she comes up with in a matter of seconds...She's left some comments on my blog that have... left me breathless. And changed my whole outlook on whatever issue I was facing...
After seeing the same deep comments over and over again, and after the comment above on someone else's blog... I immediately granted her her own "Original Oldgirl" platinum card, good worldwide, with absolutely no monetary limits...
So Sharon, if the cops ever threaten to arrest you, or a gang of folks try to jump you, you have the right to say...
Step BACK... I am an "Original Oldgirl"! Don't touch me! I am an "OG"!
No, it may not help you...
You'd still get locked down and the brakes beaten off ya, you know...
But you will have the PRIDE attached to being an "Original OG"...
LOL!
So this here post is dedicated to you, Oldgirl! And the video that's playing reminds me of you whenever I hear it!!
Keep living your life like it's Golden! And keep dropping knowledge, girl, because we really need it!
Have a Happy, happy Birthday!!! :)
from LadyLee...
the Original "OG"
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It is exactly 12:55 AM CST as I am writing this comment, [and technically 41 years ago today I had not yet been born as I was not born until 11:33 AM according to my birth certificate]; I'm up late catching up on getting my daily feed of posts from my favorite bloggers as I didn't have time Wednesday morning when I usually visit my favorite sites, I came here first as usual, and found the ALL-TIME BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT I HAVE EVER RECEIVED!
ReplyDeleteLadylee, get ready for some serious blogging in your comments because I barely know where to begin, so the ending is probably pretty damned far away from here right now...;-b
To start, in a lifetime, there are people who never interface with someone who really sees the person they are or want to be. Even people who have known you since the second you were born oftentimes don't get you or what you are about. So let me say that when I read this post honoring my birthday, I was taken aback by the sheer maginitude of how totally you seem to get me...to SEE me! I am so emotional right now that it is difficult for me to focus my thoughts...the best that anyone can hope for is that someone has a certain level of understanding about who they are on the surface, and anything deeper than that is simply asking too much. But you in the short time and limited exposure you have had to me have much more than a superficial comprehension of who I truly am. How do I know this?...
The following portion of your post could have come right out of my own imagination, because as CONCEITED AND EGOTISTICAL as I know this sounds, this is the impact I would love my words to have at least in terms of their effect on others:
"She's all of a sudden on a stage, and a crowd of thousands has automatically gathered, because they know she is about to say something utterly PROFOUND. A hush falls over the immense crowd... It is so quiet, you can hear a pin drop...
It's almost like one of those old E.F. Hutton commercials...
Why, even the *Crickets* are quiet, wide-eyed and poised, longing to hear what pearls of wisdom Sharon will undoubtedly convey to the awaiting crowd...
Then she speaks... "
Now I realize that most people would not admit this type of desire, but what's the point of lying about it, you'd know it wasn't true, and not admitting it surely won't change that now would it. The mere fact that you contrived this whole scene and though we've never discussed my fantasies it is so on point with them knocks me out! And to have someone, even just one person say that I drop knowledge like nuclear bombs...I have died and gone to HEAVEN, I have arrived :)
Okay, we're closing in on the wrap up anytime now, but before we do, a couple things more...
Jill Scott...OMG! I have always loved her [Is there a more positive force anywhere on earf?], and this song, and it now belongs to me. Think "I'm Gonna Get You Suckas!" and imagine Ms. Just Write Now walking around followed by Jill Scott singing her own personal theme song {Living My Life Like It's Golden}. Thank you.
If I died today [and I assure you, that I have no intention of doing so], I would want your post to be inscribed on the tombstone because it captures me and my essence better than anything that even I might write about myself...and some would say that you barely even know me taking into account the length of time that we've known each other. Those people would be wrong! This post bestows a certain immortality that even my son cannot deliver as it will provide a piece of me to people who otherwise might never know I ever even existed and definitely not how spectacular you perceive me to be...I'm amazed and grateful. Once again, Thank you.
Having made what should be a short comment long, it's great to be seen and YOU see me. In life we all try to present a picture of ourselves to the world, and as is the case with any type of art, visual or otherwise, individual interpretations can distort the picture that is actually perceived. Good, bad, or otherwise, when/if we meet someone who actually sees the picture we are trying to project, if we are paying attention and actually notice that person, it is as close to MAGIC as we will probably ever get. Thanks for making my birthday magical already, and thanks for the song. Because of my family, friends, and most especially people like you, I'm not living my life LIKE its golden...I'm living my life BECAUSE its golden!
This was a great post Ladylee! I feel the same way about Sharon's comments. It seems as though she wraps up whatever discussion is occuring in the comment section. And Sharon if you come back and check the comments again, Happy Birthday!
ReplyDelete@ Sharon...
ReplyDelete**Ladylee tip-toeing up to the microphone just thrown down on the stage by Sharon**
**Ladylee stooping down to pick up the microphone**
**Ladylee yelping and jumping back from the sparks that flew when she tried to pick up the microphone**
Doggonit, Sharon, I don't know what to say behind your comment, because you have dropped a bit of knowledge here (as usual!)... No, I haven't known you long, but I thought I had you pegged just right! And you are just as long-winded as myself, so I know what's up with you!!
But I am oh so glad you liked your little birthday tribute... just wanted you know that you and your words are truly, truly appreciated by whoever's blog you choose to bless with a right-on-time comment!!!
Have a great birthday!!!
@Serenity... Ha! Ha! I know that you too are enlightened by the science she drops...
You know how she do...
Sharon has spoken... ENOUGH SAID!