DECEMBER UPDATE, MY NEPHEWS

OAKS CHRISTIAN CIF CHAMPIONS!

Earlier this month, on December 10th to be exact, my nephew, the handsome #6 and the Oaks Christian Lions won the CIF CHAMPIONSHIP. The Lions beat Westlake, the same team that crushed them like Miami and Lebron did Kobe and the Lakers on Christmas day.  I know I’m sports switching, but that’s neither here nor there. I’m proud of my handsome nephew who I believe had one catch the entire game. Being the showman that he is, he caught THE MOST IMPORTANT CATCH of the game. (My blog, my opinion.)  Let me set up the picture.  Oaks Christian is down by 7 with 3:03 seconds left in the game. The Lions receive the ball on their own 20.  It’s cliche time.  It’s do or die.  Must win. Take no prisoners.  Go hard or go home. On THE FIRST PLAY of the must score, must win drive, Richie Harrington, Oaks Christian’s quarterback, drops back for a quick, short pass.  BAM, straight to number six.  My nephew. Trey “ICE COLD” give-me-the-ball-when-it-counts, when-I-haven’t-seen-the-ball-all game, with-5,000 people-watching-and-the-game-on-the- line Smith.  He did it looking very handsome, lol, runs for SEVEN YARDS! HE sets up the winning drive!  YOU GO BOY! All the boys did their thing on the team. EVERY SINGLE ONE contributed.  It was an awesome game and came down to a :03 second field goal miss by Westlake.

TEXAS TECH AND UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS!

My nephew Jonathan, whom I do not have a picture of on TMZ, lol, got accepted by two of his top four college choices. He’s wants to stay in Dallas, shunning Yale and Cornell, hoping to get into his top choice, the storied and highly ranked Rice.  I’m so proud of my other handsome nephew.  His plans are to help the world by finding a way to use water to replace oil as an energy source!

J WOODZ My nephew Josh graduated high school and is attending college.  I’m so proud of his entrepreneurial spirit.  J Woodz Clothing is blowing up.  Some of his designs are featured below.   Jaden Smith rocked a pair of J Woodz during Justin Bieber’s concert.

MY NEPHEW LANDON

My other handsome nephew Landon is finishing up his second year at Bellevue College and is getting letters from the University of Idaho and Warner Pacific College in Oregon. He’s hoping to get into Washington State University or a university back home in Texas.  I’m proud of him and my thing is, get your B.A. in basket weaving or choir if you have to, just get the darn thing!  🙂

To all my nephews, I love you!

NOVEMBER POP CULTURE TORNADO FROM BIEBER FEVER to EL DEBARGE.


What a KRAZY November.

Every Friday, I take time out from rewriting my historical novel Eighth Wonder to watch my nephew play football.  He’s the handsome wide receiver (#6) for Oaks Christian High School.  Does being handsome have anything to do with athleticism?  Anyhoo, I’m watching the game, having vaguely noticed that Trey’s little brother  is bouncing off the walls.  His little brother is always animated and upbeat so I didn’t pay too much attention to his constant standing and looking over toward the entrance, although he seemed to be a bit anxious.

THE TEEN STORM – JUSTIN BIEBER AND SELENA GOMEZ


Halfway through the second quarter, the reason for the edginess became evident as a huge black dude made his way through the crowd followed by a fresh-faced white kid with his hair swooped to the side like the Beatles of old, followed by a slim pretty girl who appeared to be his sister and more bodyguards. Behind them, a SWARM of teenage girls began to point and started standing near the rail beneath the two stars, their cellphones pointed upward.  I’m assuming one of those amateur photogs sold this photo to TMZ.

How in the WORLD do teenagers get news so quickly? Justin and his “sister” were barely in their seats before a mass of young bodies began to head in our direction.  Can you see me? I’m to the left of the girl I thought was Justin’s sister.  Darn.  I got cut out!  LOL!  Behind Justin’s “sister” is the bodyguard.  Behind him in the red baseball cap is Trey’s mom and uncle. Beneath him is Trey’s father. And what happened to me? My new boots got stepped on quite a bit, until Justin’s bodyguards apparently finally got the memo from watching Trey’s father’s bodyguards and stopped the madness by politely asking autograph seekers to allow Justin, his “sister” and Trey’s little brother to watch the game, so well, everyone could watch the game!

SELENA GOMEZ

Anhoo, before fortune landed me right next to the young lady who looked like Justin Bieber’s sister at the game, I had NO IDEA who this young girl was at all. But when the CUTEST little tweens and early teens started stepping on my boots to ask her for her autograph, IGNORING Justin and Trey’s brother, it occurred to me, she probably wasn’t his sister.  I texted Trey’s mom and a few other parents and said WHO IS THIS GIRL?  I was born in the morning, but not yesterday morning, so I deduced she was probably some teen t.v. or foreign star.  A parent texted me back saying that I was sitting next to SELENA GOMEZ.  Who is she, I asked?  A Nickelodeon or Disney star?  The parent texted back, yes.  A Disney star. OOOOOOhhhh.  I’m so out of the loop.  The kids said she’s more famous than Justin and Jaden.  Okay.  Go figure.  The girl whom I DON’T KNOW is more famous than the next Elvis and current Karate Kid.  Well, now I’m up.  FYI, Oaks Christian won the game and Trey had a few receptions.

That was the nascent of my crazy November experience.

At the beginning of November, I was caught in the eye of the storm of three of the planet’s hottest teen sensations. Then, here I am at the end of November, experiencing the rebirth of a former teen star seeking redemption and a second chance at life – El Debarge, 49, and still fine.

EVERYONE LOVES A COMEBACK

On Wednesday, (November 24) Jeff, the former on air personality and music director for L.A.’s KJLH, invited a friend of mine who invited me, to see Fantasia.  Well, I was writing and the call came last minute, so by the time I got to the Fox Hills Mall, Fantasia was on her way out and I missed her.  Oh well.  Jeff invited us to see El Debarge. Hmmm.  Normally, I would pass, preferring to rush back home and write. But there’s recent history to consider here, although I won’t start that story in the present. No, let’s first go back two decades.

In the 80s, El Debarge was as much a part of my consciousness as Michael Jackson and Prince.  So much so, that as a teen, if a boy didn’t look like El Debarge, Michael Jackson – or Al B Sure for that matter – I wouldn’t give him any consideration, much less the time of day.  I wouldn’t call myself a huge El Debarge fan, but he had some hits I definitely appreciated, AND, there is a lot of buzz around him right now.

So when Jeff mentioned El Debarge would be in the valley, I jumped at the opportunity to hear him because of the positive buzz I’d recently heard. Rumors have been flying that El was better than ever. He opened for Mary J. Blige in the Bay Area and people who attended the concert flooded the internet with tweets and facebook messages about how great a performance El Debarge gave.  Most of us were like El debarge? Really?  But the reports kept coming about El Debarge really making a strong comeback and his voice being better than ever.

It was less than two weeks ago, when I caught wind of his performance in L.A., where he again opened for Mary J.  I asked about El and the concertgoer went bananas.  He said El sang hit after hit after hit after hit after hit after hit after hit and sounded better then ever.  Wow.  Better than ever?  That keeps coming up.  Okay.  So that’s why I pushed my night of writing and baking for Thanksgiving aside and went to the Romanov on Ventura and Laurel Canyon to see the aging legend myself.

El was phenomenal! I was surprised by the large number of 20-somethings there to see El.  Most said they knew of him and had been introduced to his music by their parents.  My thinking was, that bodes well for El.  As for his voice?  Better than ever!  LOL.  He sounds just as good, as he did twenty years ago! Unlike Whitney Houston, he was spared the devastation of losing the gift of his God-given instrument due to drug abuse. He was extremely charismatic, seemed to be truly thankful to Interscope/Geffen for giving him a second chance, and appeared to be truly delivered from his crack addiction.  His new music is current in feel, with great tracks steeped in traditional R&B vain, which may prove to be a winning combination, especially since many who grew up with his music are starving for great R&B singers with their own, unique, non autotune sound.

ALL THE BEST TO YOU EL! I look forward to BUYING the CD when it drops Nov. 30th. Here is the music video with Faith Evans, featuring the single, Lay With You.  Click on the message inside and you’ll be taken to youtube.

GOD BLESS YOU!