Everything with me has to be dramatic. Everything has to be full of emotion and drive and tragedy and catastrophe, valor and victory…in the spirit of living large. Every day I rejoice about something and I’m totally delighted and I’m the most fortunate guy on earth.— David Lee Roth, Crazy from the Heat
I read about Asmik Grigorian just now! She is a 42-years-young opera singer — soprano. Listen to her sing Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in 2023. Today while cooking dinner, I will listen to her on Apple Music.
My favorite version of Madam Butterfly is by the late Malcolm McLaren, released in 1984. The vocals on the song are fantastic. Listen here.
Taylor Swift is a billionaire now and she deserves to be one. I admire her energy and total passion for creativity. Today I completed listening to all 16-tracks of The Tortured Poets Department and 15-tracks of The Anthology — two hours total. I don’t care what the reviews are. I’m almost two-times older than her, and it is soothing for me to listen to her lyrics while driving in my new, bitchen car. Her music is to be played loud so you can hear all of her words and contemplate them. She is a poet and is probably always writing down her thoughts in journals or notebooks. I respect her self-assuredness and passion for her music. I don’t know all of her songs by heart like millions of her fans. My favorite album is Reputation. I also loved her film the Reputation Stadium Tour. The Tortured Poets Department is the first album to reach one billion Spotify plays in a week. I can’t imagine being so famous. More power to her. I love her.
To learn more: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-the-tortured-poets-department-the-anthology/
Persist, even though it is difficult. Even though your heart breaks a thousand times. — Francis Weller
Art comes flying in like an angel. Sweeps me up and takes me to where I belong. — Tracey Emin
Two things can be true at the same time. — Sean, Charleston, North Carolina. A comment about The New York Times article “The Deep Joy of Squirreling It All Away” by Margaret Renkl, February 12, 2024.
“Nothing should be noticed.” — Bunny Mellon
Don’t worry about the future, whether it be something good, or not so good, you’ll meet whatever happens in the same way you have before ~ you’ll wait, you’ll listen, you’ll think, you’ll learn, you’ll grow, but you’ll never give up! — Susan Branch
There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. — GK Chesterton
“I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.” — Maya Angelou
Merry Christmas 2023 to my followers from Critic Housewife!
It’s each human being’s divine right to hold on to hope and faith. — Maurice White from his book My Life with Earth, Wind, & Fire
Maurice White was the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire.
The album cover was shot by the amazing photographer Norman Seeff. (On the album cover, Maurice is smiling, wearing a white suit.)
Quotes from Sharon Stone:
*What I had to learn to do was be the best mother I could under the circumstances that were given to me, and to not try to make my plan of being a mom how I thought I should be a mother.
*You can do whatever the fuck you want! And all you have to do is do it. It requires discipline. And what you have to do is you have to have discipline. People start things, but they don’t finish them. You have to finish it.
*Discipline is freedom. I don’t care whether you’re working out or having a friendship. It’s discipline. If you think, Geez, why haven’t I heard from my friend? Well, has your friend heard from you?
*Most people don’t want to take me seriously. They have that troubling vagina problem. And if you’re attractive, again, you must be an idiot.
Read the full article here: https://www.vulture.com/article/sharon-stone-painting-art-jerry-saltz.html
We have to understand that the only reality we have is living every day as if it’s the last…The way to fight is not to reflect horror and put your spirit down. It’s to create something with beauty that gives you hope. — Marina Abramovic
“He came to see me on May 1, 1969, in Santa Monica, on my birthday. He bought me a beautiful guitar as a birthday present, and he sat down and played Judy Blue Eyes. I was blown away. I said, ‘That was really beautiful, but it’s not going to get me back.’ You have to hand it to Stephen. He tried everything.” — Judy Collins about Stephen Stills
I swim in the blue sea
I walk on the sand
I fly through the blue sky
To wherever you land.
— Song: Travelling Light by The Fireman (Paul McCartney)
“Bright are the stars that shine, dark is the sky… I know this love of mine will never die. And I love her.”
And I Love Her, The Beatles, 1964. Written by Paul McCartney/John Lennon
From a Hollywood Reporter interview with Sarah Michelle Gellar: “While Gellar supported castmates who spoke out about negative experiences working with Buffy the Vampire Slayer show creator Joss Whedon, she said, ‘I’ll never tell my full story because I don’t get anything out of it. I’ve said all I’m going to say because nobody wins. Everybody loses.’ ”
Dooce, Dooce, Dooce. My heart is aching that Heather Armstrong (Dooce) took her life. She was a pioneer blogger. I first heard about her in 2008–she had already been blogging since 2001. “At its peak, Dooce had more than 8 million monthly readers, a healthy following that allowed her to monetize her online presence.” She was making a lot of money monthly from her blog. In 2009 I watched her on Oprah. She was a big part of my new life after I moved to Wisconsin. She was inspiring and very smart. I send my condolences to her two children and boyfriend. R.I.P.
Get yourself a dream, something to hope for. Put it on the calendar; save for it, plan for it, work for it, even if it’s a long time from now; and then…someday…have it. — Susan Branch
I will never have this version of me again. Let me slow down and be with her. — rupi kaur
Miranda Kerr at the 2023 Oscars, dressed in Elie Saab
I'm a Critic and a Housewife 