Icons of the 70's & 80's Pass Away

If you were a teenage girl in the 70's or early 80's you wanted two things, the first was Farrah Fawcett's hair. Who didn't want those wonderful windblown locks that adorned the fairest of Charlie's angels? When she married Lee Majors, you just knew they were going to have a brood of bionic angels. She seemed to live a charmed life, the Marilyn Monroe of our generation without the tragicly early ending. Instead, she and Lee divorced and Farrah spent the rest of her life with her partner Ryan O'Neal. When cancer struck she suffered in graceful silence while speaking out to support funding for a cure.

The other thing you wanted if you were a teenager (boy or girl) in the 70's and early 80's was to be able to dance like Michael Jackson. From the age of 5, appearing on amateur night at the Apollo, it was clear that he had talent and charisma beyond his years. And while years later the Michael Jackson who did Billy Jean and Thriller bore little resemblance to the child who sang "One Bad Apple" the genius of his music was undeniable. Over the years Michael had many ups and downs, was the subject of speculation on many topics, charged with child molestation and experienced financial problems. His passing was unexpected. His musical genius will be missed.

For the teenagers of the 70's Farrah will always be Charlie's Angel and Michael will always make us want to get up and dance, even if we can't moonwalk.

Rest in peace Farrah and Michael, you have both left your mark on this world.

Losing a friend

We all knew for along time that Woody (Donna Woodward) was going to die. Women with ovarian cancer usually do, even with aggressive treatment. Woody was an amazing woman, a true biker in every sense of the word, an activist for LGBT rights and some one that when you met her you never forgot her. It was the morning of Boston Pride when she drew her last breath, nothing could have been more fitting. The entire community morned her passing as did those of us who are far away.

What a great loss for everyone.

Catch Up

Wow, so many things I've wanted to address but so little time.

CA supreme court ruling on Prop 8 sucks. Someone please tell me how same gender marriage affects opposite gender marriage? Look at the divorce rate for heaven's sake, it's not like straight people are messing up "traditional" marriage all on their own.

Health care - when did money become more important than the health of a child? Recently we had a friend whose young daughter was diagnosed with bone cancer. Like any responsible parent, our friend wanted a second opinion. When she tried to get the results of an MRI to take to a different doctor, the facility refused to release the results until she paid the full balance of the bill, nearly $700. She didn't have the money so we wired it to her. How can someone in good conscience act in this matter?

More later