Delicious Bite-Sized Fantasies

“That day, I had no where to go but your door.”



“Stay here tonight. Home is far. The walk, dangerous. The night, cold.”



And you're not trying to catch a breath.

You're trying to inhale someone else's.



Born To Be Blue

Maybe I'm wrong
Maybe I'm right
Maybe I just don't know
Will I ever fall in love
And never have to worry
That I'm fallin' all alone
Maybe It's true
I was just born to be blue
Maybe It's true
I was just born to be blue

They say everybody's got someone
A sweet somebody to love
It might be fate or destiny
Baby written in the stars above
But I can't help but wonder
After all that I've been through
Maybe my baby's no where to be found
And I was just born to be blue
Was I born to be unhappy
Just to live on heartache street
Was I born to go to bed each night
And cry myself to sleep
Can somebody out there help me
Give me some kind of clue
Tell me I'm wrong
Tell me I'm right
But don't tell me I was born to be blue

They say nobody dies from a heartache
You can't drown in your own tears
Who wants to live in this world alone
Where minutes turn into years
So I'd rather go down than leavin'
Suffer a heartache or two
Tell me I'm wrong
Tell me I'm right
But don't tell me I was born to be blue

Was I born to be blue
Born just to cry
Born to be alone 'til the day I die
Somebody tell me
Was I born to be loved
Born to be kissed
Born to find the one
To show me what I missed
Was I born to be blue
Born just to cry
Born to be alone 'til the day I die
Tell me mama
Was I born to be loved
Born to be kissed
Born to find the one
To show me what I missed

Jeanette MacDonald (1903–1965)

Jeanette MacDonald began her career at age 6, where she had small roles in theaters and operas. By age 13, she was winning singing contests along the eastern United States. Jeanette was a very talented operatic singer/lyrical soprano, with a wide vocal range, E above high C, close to 3 octaves. Her talent soon was spotted by Ernst Lubitsch, and she signed with Paramount early in 1929 to star in the Lubitsch-Chevalier film, The Love Parade (1929). She was 25 years old. After making several films at Paramount, Fox and UA, Irving Thalberg convinced her to come to MGM in 1933. Jeanette soon became known as The Iron Butterfly, for she was one of the most lady-like and beautiful women on the MGM lot, but when it came to her contracts, she was tough and could strike a deal quickly that suited her. Jeanette was a striking red-head, with big blue eyes and this made her an interest to many men at the studio. In 1935, MacDonald was paired with, Nelson Eddy in Naughty Marietta (1935). They were a smash-hit. The pair made eight pictures together, from then on forever known as America's Singing Sweethearts. On June 17, 1937, Jeanette married actor Gene Raymond, in a spectacular Hollywood fashion - it was the best attended wedding of the decade. The marriage lasted 28 years till her death in 1965. After making Cairo (1938), Jeanette left MGM to pursue other interests. In 1943, she made her operatic debut in Montreal, Canada. In 1944, she began working in theatre and on stage, starring in such musicals as The King and I, and gave numerous sold out concerts. In 1948, MacDonald returned to MGM to make her last two films, Three Daring Daughters (1948), with 'Jane Powell' and The Sun Comes Up (1949). The 1950's were spent mainly resting due to her weakening heart although she and Nelson Eddy teamed on television. Their renewed popularity led to a 1958 record album with Nelson Eddy singing their favorite songs. The album went gold. Now more than 30 years after her death, MacDonald still has a large and loyal fan following.

 

Peonies

I just love how voluptuous and petalsome peonies are. They remind me of a little girl's petticoat, or a 1950s debutant in her white ballgown. I love the ants that scurry all over the flowers, and the way the entire room becomes scented with a particular spicy-sweet smell. There is nothing like the fragrance of a peony.

Peonies

This morning the green fists of the peonies

are getting ready to break my heart

as the sun rises,

as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open -

pools of lace,

white and pink -

and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes

into the curls,

craving the sweet sap,

taking it away

to their dark, underground cities -

and all day

under the shifty wind,

as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,

and tip their fragrance to the air,

and rise,

their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness

gladly and lightly,

and there it is again -

beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.

Do you love this world?

Do you cherish your humble and silky life?

Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot,

into the garden and softly,

and exclaiming of their dearness,

fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,

their eagerness

to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are

nothing, forever?

~ by Mary Oliver