Wednesday, April 27, 2011

AM~Erica Talks Royal Wedding

So anyway...


The talk everywhere right now is the British Royal Wedding in a couple of days of William & Catherine (which is what she is supposed to be called after the nuptials). There is a true obsession about it! Countdowns everywhere & so many shows telling you how to throw a viewing party. Even if it BEGINS in the U.S. anywhere from midnight to 3:00 AM depending which time zone you're in.

Many guys are so lost as to why there is this obsession, especially amongst their wives/girlfriends. I will tell you what it's about, but stay with me...

When I was in 1st grade, I have a memory of my parents waking me up while it was still very dark outside to watch "The Wedding of the Century" back in 1981. It was the British Royal Wedding of Charles & Diana. I remember the dress, and, even funnier, I remember them showing a model who was reminiscent of Diana showing off a copy of the dress & they tried to tell everyone it was Diana showing off this dress. Even at age 6 or 7, I knew that chic was NOT the future princess! But I still believe I got to be a part of history by watching this.

Does it have any impact on our country? I don't think so. It is more of the fact that every little girl was watching a fairytale fantasy. Guys, you have to understand that most females start planning their wedding the moment they start playing dress up. Weddings are a big deal to us. Plus we get to see a modern-day princess being made & crowned right before our eyes. We are living vicariously through her! Then we take our moment to glam it up to celebrate.

Now, Diana's son, William, an heir to the throne in a big way, is marrying a woman who is actually considered a "commoner". Diana was part of a noble family & was already called Lady Di[ana]. Kate Middleton is our modern-day Cinderella! It is the ultimate rags-to-riches princess story we read in books, watch on Disney movies, and dream of as a child. It also sets a lot of trends, not just in fashion, but culturally.

So, this wedding is happening in a day of super-social media & a major age of information. We have all kinds of ways to dream & put our thoughts out there. Look, I'm even blogging about it...and you're reading it! We also have this thing called TiVo or DVR. We can record the coverage & watch it later in case you want to sleep in.

Because of the array of channels out there now (way beyond the 40-something cable channels back in '81), you have your choice of how & where to watch it. Or you may choose to watch a channel that isn't even showing it. But for those who are planning on doing it, we have AT&T U-Verse...we can get the BBC. If you're gonna get coverage of this event, go hardcore & go all out! Then, you can even hold a follow-up party. You have had time to process the recipes & decorations so you can hold your own high tea in retrospect. And you don't have to do it in the middle of the night.

This is a once-in-a-life time event (so-to-speak). Keep showing it & you can have as many teas & royal parties as you would like! You don't even need to worry about running out of room on your VHS tape that you set to record on your VCR!

So, is there anyone who is planning on watching live? Anyone planning viewing parties? Anyone planning on recording it & watching later? Anyone watching it on the BBC, even in America? Anyone who doesn't care at all & wants it over with so we can get on with our lives?

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica
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Monday, April 18, 2011

AM~Erica Celebrates Tax Day

So anyway...

Today is the day, everyone! Make sure you take care of one of the 2 of life inevitabilities...TAXES. I believe you can figure out the other one.

Uncle Sam was nice enough to let everyone wait until Monday, April 18th this year so he could celebrate Emancipation Day on Friday, April 15th (the usual filing day). Well, this gave the weekend for him to get over whatever Emancipation Hangover he may have incurred.

Many people are probably quite happy with having the extra time, so hopefully you all have either got everything filed already or are working diligently to get it done & in by midnight!

For everyone who is not having to file today since either a) you already have taxes filed, or b) someone else does it for you, then we can join together in an annual protest of taxes. How do we do that? By having a Tea Party of course!

OK...that has taken on a new connotation lately with the GOP spinoff political party, but it was based on the same annual tradition...or the Boston Tea Party...whichever...

We can all wear a big hat & sip tea in protest! This is my choice. Or we can take our boxes of tea bags & dump them into the nearest body of water (i.e. ocean, river, lake, stream, creek, pond, bathtub, etc.), but this one could be slightly less effective & get everyone doing it fined for littering...and you'd be out of tea bags. Plus you'd have a larger fine tacked onto that if you choose the second option along with a full protest by not filing taxes.

Yes, the protest is tongue-in-cheek...but it just shows we all feel the same way about it. Yes the taxes are needed...but do we know what they are all going for? Sometimes we tend to get surprised.

By the way...there are a few businesses around the U.S. who give discounts & freebies for they own personal protest that they like to include the people! Watch for those!!

So...raise your pinkie & your tea cup! Have some Boston Cream Pie! Cheers to a Tax Day protest! Now make sure you go file...

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica
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