This and That

(I started this post almost a month ago, but at least I finally published it so you know I'm still alive.)

1.  This is my busiest time of year - especially the month of February.  Those of you who have followed me for a while know my posts get fewer and fewer during tax season, but I promise to be back on a regular basis sometime soon.

2.  Everyone around here is talking about this "new" singer Adele who won so many Grammy Awards the other night.  I've been a fan of her for years, and "Chasing Pavements" is still one of my favorites from her repertoire:



It's a shame that the death of Whitney Houston pushed Adele out of her well-deserved spotlight. No wonder she raised a finger in protest a few days later.

3.  And that begs a question: Why does the media go into overdrive when an entertainer with a very public drug problem leaves this world.  There is rarely day after day, week after week of coverage when an entertainer who lived a clean, decent, good life dies.  Personally I am sick of this elevation of troubled souls into hero status.  The media is always more interested in covering stories of those who are weak and have no self-restraint than those who value life and avoid self-destruction.

4.The winners of the four top acting Academy Awards were an interesting group:  two were over 60, one a plus-size minority, and an average looking French dude. It was refreshing to see that perhaps awards were finally being given for great performances of normal looking-people and not for plastic Barbies and Kens.