CrazyLemon

As we transition from one decade to another, from one era to another, as we move to full and equal human rights around the planet, as we move into the "angels of our better nature" I thought I would share a portion of one of my favorite speeches by a President, one given by Lyndon B. Johnson before a joint session of Congress on voting rights, one of our most basic tools of democracy. It is a speech to remember. "In our time we have come to live with moments of great crisis. Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues; issues of war and peace, issues of prosperity and depression. Rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of America itself. Rarely are we met with a challenge, not to our growth or abundance, our welfare or our security, but rather to the values and the purposes and the meaning of our beloved Nation. The issue of equal rights." Lyndon B. Johnson did not "win" the Presidency, he ascended to the office due to the ...

In the last months of her life Audrey Hepburn speaking of her garden said "Few things are more dear to me than a full blown rose when it opens its heart.“ And I’m compelled to add - few things are more beautiful. Footfalls echo in the memory Down the passage we did not take Towards the door we never opened into the rose garden - TS Eliot Roses have been described as enchanted, expressive, elementally elegant, unfaltering, unforgiving, devastatingly sophisticated, a symbol for strength and eternal charm. The rose is a powerful symbol. There is a deep meditative practice of imagining all of your strife, and troubles into the heart of a Rose; the energies being absorbed into it's heart center dissipating into the Rose's eternal charm. LOVING THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER Our founding father and gardening enthusiast Thomas Jefferson felt "Nature is imagination fully formed." Be willing to see things differently, soak in what's calling forth and know your open heart is ...

The graciousness of giving is one of the main catalysts of change because grace is more than a feeling, it is a readiness to be open, an action and movement to be on top of your being, reaching out to others. Gandhi often said "the end is inherent in the means." Through giving and grace you begin to understand fully your means and the ending is written in gratitude. Let's take this day, to gift yourself. Gift yourself the grace of listening. Jewish lyricist Yip Harburg once commented, “A song is the pulse of a nation’s heart, a fever chart of its health. Are we at peace? Are we in trouble? Do we feel beautiful? Are we violent? Listen to our songs.” It also relates to you, your pulse. What songs are you hearing now? What song is crying out to be heard? When you start listening and step onto the path of uncovering your Soul's call you start hearing and articulating things you did not want to know, and it can be overwhelming. Let your song be your guide. The soul's s...

Gandhi Rules. "Truth alone will endure; all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time." Take the bridge to somewhere. Let's make a commitment today to live in the truth. No false idols. No judging. No fear. Just the simple uncomplicated breath of now.

Like clock work on Christmas Day after the presents, toys and clothes have been opened and the annihilated wrapping paper is tucked away in a trash bag, one of my favorite Canadian eccentric friends makes an announcement, “when I was a kid, my mom gave me a stick and pointed to the fence and said "play." A stick and a fence. It may have been a stark recollection from childhood, but I always take his stick and fence statement as an inspirational proclamation. He had his imagination, he had his hands, he had a place to play and someone who cared. His cry was the cry of everyone who’s ever been to someone’s house and had to step over the x-box controller to get to the Wii paddles next to the laptop and heard the kids scream past saying “I need another iphone.” It's simple. Two words. Need less. Getting to the core of what is important isn’t complicated. It involves making a choice to need less, understanding how little we need to be and getting rid of what bogs our space d...

Make the choice to accept your mistakes, to revel in your failures, to remove judgment from your vocabulary and watch everything get very simple. With this one action you are removing drama and "issues" from your daily thoughts. You are focusing on the journey and living in the adventure of each day. With this one shift you are cheering for yourself, living in forgiveness and any perceived mistakes only become information. That's all... Information for you to consider in your next steps forward. Yes. It's tough to own perceived mistakes or failures. It will bring up everything about how you are not good enough, how your way of being isn't okay. Do it anyway. A mistake is just that a missed take. Surrounding yourself with love and support become the order of your new day. Giving you the opportunity to become centered in a nourishing pattern. We're done with the self abusive, self loathing beat downs. If you are over feeling a certain way. It needs to go. Change...

KA-CHINGLE! MINE THE MAGIC. Ho. Ho. Ho. Let's go. Day Four. It's Christmas Day. (Yah!) In our 10 Days. All Love. Getting Bare. Love Fest. Today represents a deepening of the Divine Loving experience, an opportunity to cleanse the past and an embracing of a new loving, powerful, radiant being. "If you want to sing out sing out. If you want to be free. be free." Cat Stevens. Little kids sing their hearts out and are so proud to be on stage. As Maya Angelou says "a bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." From Harold and Maude... by Cat Stevens. Well, if you want to sing out, sing out And if you want to be free, be free 'Cause there's a million things to be You know that there are And if you want to live high, live high And if you want to live low, live low 'Cause there's a million ways to go You know that there are Chorus: You can do what you want The opportunity's on And if you find a new way You can...

We are witnessing a great struggle. A struggle that is externalizing all of our inner conflicts. A struggle over whether we will know peace or suffer needlessly at our own hand. A struggle over whether we will be loving or whether we will be fearful. Opt out of the struggle. It's Christmas for Christ's sake. It's a time where we remember Peace is available on Earth. Now. Paraphrasing a country song "all the reason's we're here, we know by heart." You can live in the fiction of the struggle. Or you can revel in the truth. The truth exactly as it is. No fooling. No despair. No hope. Just a knowing that everything is what it is. The fantasy of wanting anything to be different than it is, keeps us stuck in the fiction and falsehoods, cause never more so... do the words of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life spring out... "Each life touches so many others..." Let's remind ourselves to remember, what we do matters. The choices we make, no ...

MAY YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires Will come to you When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires Will come to you In talking to reporters when Walt Disney opened Disney Land he shared, "It's something that will never be finished, something I can keep developing and adding to. It will get more beautiful every year. And it will get better as I find out what the public likes." The happiest place on earth was built on the spirit of work in progress where adventure unfolded and imagination flourished and the never ending process was cherished. When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires Will come to you If your heart is in your dream No request is too extreme When you wish upon a star As dreamers do Fate is kind She brings to those who love The sweet fulfillment of Their secret longing Like a bolt out of the blue Fate...

What is waiting to be born? Turn off the people pleasing voice in your head and every last "should" that floods into your brain for the next 24 hours and Listen. LOVING THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER Be incredibly gentle with yourself. Starting or stopping anything takes courage. Knowing your truth makes everything easier. Listening to your 'still small voice' makes it possible. Brought to you by Melanie Lutz's THE BARE MELCESSITIES .

My tiny powerhouse cherub faced Italian grandmother used to say when asked what went into her heavenly lasagna “here’s the recipe” handing it over with a smile on her face and a crack of kensho in her heart “but, it’s not going to taste the same.” Off the puzzled faces that stared back at her ... “it’s up to you to experiment with ingredients, add new ones, make your own lasagna.” It is amazing how far we’ll go to stick with something that isn’t working to try to make it work. How often we don’t even recognize it’s grown as bland as cardboard institutional food. Have no memory of what bold and lively tastes like, so lost in the routine we don’t remember we’re not adding anything new to the equation. Burning any tired recipe or introducing something new to the brew brings the cheers and applause of the heavenly choir and for me that one voice of my slightly off key Grandmother chuckling through song with a huge prideful grin on her face. Contented. Resolve to release any recipe that do...

Expand and breathe. If you listen you can hear the angels wings. Up above our heads so near They are hovering "The anger that you feel goes on and on..." That is not enough to know that I love you still So I'll take my heart and go for I've had my fill WOUNDED HEART (written by Jude Johnstone) Wounded heart I cannot save you from yourself Though I wanted to be brave It never helps Cause your trouble's like a flood Raging through your veins And no amount of love's enough To end the pain Tenderness and time can heal A right gone wrong But the anger that you feel Goes on and on And it's not enough to know That I love you still So I'll take my heart and go For I've had my fill If you listen you can hear The angels' wings Up above our heads so near They are hovering Waiting to reach out for love When it falls apart When it cannot rise above A wounded heart

MAKE PEACE AND JOY YOUR FRIENDS To any problem perceived or otherwise Love remains the answer. Imagine being Loving when Jerk Town moves into the neighborhood, or crushes in front of you in traffic, or negative Nina wants to drop a “load off” and corners you at work. Imagine being Loving. All the time. Last year at Christmas I resolved to spend the year Loving Everyone. Like setting in motion the first words of a grand drama that by its sheer depth of adventure rumbles forth taking on a life of its own to become an Oscar winning best picture. That's how The Year Without Judgment: How I Learned to Stop Hating Myself and Love Everyone, took flight. “Love is the language in which God speaks. For when we listen with Love, it is the heart that hears.” From Ralph H. Blum in his introduction to The Healing Runes. Loving everyone was one of the biggest challenges I've ever undertaken. Letting my heart hear the truth in every situation was near impossible at first. Mother Theresa and M...

Forget the past, and open up to different thinking, where Monster's aren't what you think and fear is your friend. FROM MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN I Shall. “I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited." Embarking on “an expedition of discovery up a native river.” “Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come?” -- The Monster Brought to you by The Bare Melcessities .

Set the stage for LOVING yourself into the next decade. Join Melanie Lutz in a powerhouse 10 days. All Love. Our Gift to you! Get the support you need over the holidays. December 22 through December 31st We will send you LOVE via your inbox... To break through any funky feelings Clear out the past and enlighten and uplift your spirit so you can Be All of Who You Are. 10 days of Love. 10 days of Wisdom. 10 days of Being. As Joseph Campbell said "the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." I add to that "the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are" in Love! with gratitude for all you've taught me. Lots of love, Melanie brought to you by TheBareMelcessities.com and a Band of Angels.

Gift yourself peace and clarity and love for the holidays. End the decade with a POWER SHOT of LOVING yourself. Melanie Lutz is hosting a GETTING BARE end of decade practice... 10 days. All Love. Delivered every morning to your inbox. From 12/22 through 12/31 you will get daily love infused hits and media designed to break through past thinking and patterns and offer loving support through the holidays. Think of it as a mini radical loving yourself fest offered to uplift and inspire. Let the end of the year be filled with possibility, to dance to the beat of your truest self, illuminating the steps forward in your soul's evolution, expanding your purpose and passion into the next 10 years. In Love. All you need is an email and an open heart. Be. Love. Repeat. lots of love, Melanie brought to you by TheBareMelcessities.com and a Band of Angels.

Melanie Lutz talks THE BARE MELCESSITIES SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20th AT 3PM AT Join us for Tea and Crumpets and tons of Holiday LOVE. Kid appropriate so stop on by and bask in the sunny Sunday glow. 10604 Riverside Boulevard, North Hollywood, California 818.506.5456 Melanie Lutz In Store www.thebaremelcessities.com

Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. Beautiful.

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." Joseph Campbell The goal of the hero trip down to the jewel point is to find those levels in the psyche that open open open and finally open to the mystery of yourself... Being Buddha consciousness That's the journey. Enough said. MEL-ISM: Be unwilling to settle for less than ALL of you. as David Whyte writes in his poem Sweet Darkness “Anyone or anything that does not bring you alive is too small for you.” one more time... Be UNWILLING to settle for less than ALL of you.

Start listening. When you step onto the path of uncovering your Soul's call, you start hearing and articulating things you did not want to know, and it can be overwhelming. Don't get thrown. The soul's siren song is always broadcasting and could care less about your plans, the soul doesn't make any distinctions between light and dark, doesn't care about pain or heartache, and absolutely doesn't want to hear what you think you should be doing. It worries not over failure, or success. These first lines of a Pablo Narudo poem written near the end of his career looking back at his beginnings brings the feeling to life in the poetic language... "Something ignited in my soul, fever or unremembered wings, and I went my own way deciphering that burning fire." The heart and soul only cares that you do it your way. "Something ignited in my soul" Give this all the oxygen it needs. "I went my own way deciphering that burning fire." Listen to wh...

BUY NOW MEL'S END OF DECADE 10 DAYS OF GETTING BARE EMBRACE YOUR SACRED SELF Starting December 22nd through December 31st Get the support you need. BUY NOW May your days be filled with joy and your tears find acceptance for the healing they offer!

Today's the day to express yourself. Loud. and Proud! You can have it all! Take your passion and make it happen. From the movie FLASHDANCE... Sung by Irene Cara, launching Jennifer Beals, produced by Simpson/Bruckheimer. Song written by Giorgio Moroder (music) Keith Forsey (lyrics) Irene Cara (lyrics) " What a Feeling " won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1984.

ORDER NOW and once you're signed up, no need to do anything, just sit back, and soak up Ten days of digital Love. Thank you for allowing us into your mailbox, your computer, and your hearts. It's an honor to be of service, because everyone at Mobile Mel feels that being loving and living in the truth is a terrific way to spend the day at the office!

Thanks to the work of Rankin/Bass Productions and their use of "Animagic" (a stop motion animation process using figurines) Heat miser was my favorite... Heat or Snow... it's all good.

Jesus Loves The Bare Mel Originally uploaded by Love Everyone It's a Sign! Thanks to the kids of St. Augustine By the Sea in Santa Monica. Great event!

It’s often easy to forget. But in remembering we bring right that which has gone off course. Photograph: Franklin Canyon Hike in Beverly Hills.

Art necessitates trying and failing. Great art necessitates "dying daily" as Emmet Fox and others have shared. Experiment. Fail. Celebrate. and Don't Forget to Shine. Brightly.

“There is no use trying,” said Alice, “One can’t believe impossible things.” “I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” -- Lewis Carroll 350 Million people plus one Production Company! Always Alice is a production company founded by Melanie Lutz dedicated to creating inspiring and uplifting projects filled with passion and purpose. We embrace remembering and recovering what unites us, and celebrate our evolution into the future. A future rich in possibilities.

Windy and beautiful in Redondo Beach.

Bare for the holidays Originally uploaded by Love Everyone We're taking the Holidays by storm!

Sometimes you just have to say it. Kristin Chenoweth's doing a Lifetime Movie airing this weekend, Twelve Men of Christmas... pulled this By Request performance of Stephen Schwartz's For Good from Wicked to honor her vocal talents and wonder out loud.... When are we going to figure out how to develop something that encompasses all of her many talents?! If you didn't catch her her on The View... Kristin Chenoweth on The View promoting Lifetime's Twelve men of Christmas The movie airs Saturday night at 9pm,,, Check out the trailer and get more information here .

Take a look around your life. Pick an area that has been causing you trouble. When you have the area in your mind. Clear out your thoughts and enter into a softer focus. Ask yourself with an open heart, which one action would make the most impact? It might come up, "Do nothing." It might come up, "Clean house." Who knows. Trust your instincts and intuition. Go with your gut. Be a hero in your own life and venture forth into a new story. --- We'll be opening up the conversation to tips on Getting Bare. Keep an eye out for our Get Bare Tips. Email us if you have any questions or suggestions. info@thebaremel.com

Melanie Lutz talks THE BARE MELCESSITIES on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Had so much fun hanging on Rodeo Drive... It's truly a magical spot to shop and get inspired! Thanks to everyone who made it so special and to the valet parking guys who helped a sister out!!

Comfort is the warm inner glow of peace exhaled in symphony with the moment. Excerpted from Melanie Lutz's work in progress Divine Gypsy . Comfort has different meanings for different people but the warm inner glow is universal. To order an advance copy email info@alwaysalice.com Photography by Louise Lutz

"I was missing something. Missing something very dearly, and I became curious and excited by ideas of what would nourish me. An acquaintance of mine shared a story and led me in a new direction on nourishment. She felt that her family had never accepted her chosen path in life, didn't encourage her on any level. She sought comfort in therapy only to be derided by family members with their chorus of "Are you still in therapy?" Her translation... "Are you still fucked up?" The time came when she was starring in Tennessee Williams, The Rose Tattoo , and she knew what she needed, and she finally asked for it. In a polite note to her family, she requested they send flowers opening night and for the run of the show. Every day flowers showed up at the theater with a note that said, "We are proud of you." The flowers fed her, nourished the dream she held for so long, night after night, the flowers told the story of acceptance. She related how nourished sh...

"An orgy of value destruction and misallocated resources." Fascinating and funny. Wharton School Professor of Economics Joel Waldfogel new book. Econo-geeks talk Scroogenomics : Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holiday.

There are many doors to the same place. Wanted to offer up a few of the open doors I walked through that helped me answer some of my souls questions. David Whyte ~ Poetry of the Soul James Twyman ~ Peace Troubadour Jack Kornfield ~ Buddhist Teachings Joel Goldsmith ~ Practical Mysticism Carolyn Myss ~ Sacred Healing Debbie Ford ~ Shadow Work Marianne Williamson ~ Love & Prayer Like Goldilocks you'll know when it feels "just right" i.e. warm and friendly and expanding; or not. And keep in mind what speaks to one person isn't what speaks to someone else. Let me know who your favorites are. Brought to you by: Our Twitter Pal

On the eve of December... I have five words. "Feels Like The First Time." Stay tuned! Enjoy this Foreigner classic.

The Bare Mel is going digital... Melanie Lutz's The Bare Melcessities: Walking Out. Waking Up. Getting Bare. arrives on Kindle January 15th! Kinda getting excited : ) Email us to be on the list for one of the first 50 downloads that includes an extra special something something... info@thebaremel.com. Check out the website for more information... TheBareMel.com If you don't have a Kindle get down with the number one most popular gift for the book lover in your life.

Wafting lavender and dropping mint into my ice cold S. Pellegrino . Now that's a Holiday survival diet! I love me some bubbly water. Photography by Louise Lutz Don't forget to buy Pellegrino early and often over the holidays!

Thanksgiving through the window Originally uploaded by Love Everyone Love waking up in the canyon. Fall in California is one of my favorite times of year and there's always one tree venturing into the red leaf zone.

Keeping in mind that objects in the rear view may be closer than they appear. Have a great holiday... we'll be back in action on Black Friday!

"Each of You Who Know The Joy of Freedom are Winners." The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has an active and ongoing schedule of events and on Monday wrapped their 2009 Oscar documentary winners screenings. As I went through their memorable Oscar moments collection, this clip from Gerda Weissmann Klein's Oscar acceptance speech for the documentary "One Survivor Remembers" chronicling her six years living with the horror of Nazi encampment jumped out at me. "In my minds eye I see those years and faces of those who never lived to see the magic of a boring evening at home. On their behalf I want to thank you for honoring their memory. And you can not do it in any better way than when you return to your homes tonight to realize that each of you who know the joy of freedom are winners. Thank you on their behalf with all my heart." The beauty in these stories and Gerda's sharing is that they remind us, in the face of surviving unimaginable h...

"I want in fact to borrow the language of the saints -- to live "in grace" as much of the time as possible... By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be transformed into outward harmony. I am seeking perhaps what Socrates asked for in the prayer from the Phaedrus when he said, "May the outward and inward man be at one." I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant in the eyes of God." From Anne Morrow Lindbergh's GIFT FROM THE SEA This moving and insightful book kicked off my journey through healing that would become my first book THE BARE MELCESSITIES:Walking Out. Waking Up. Getting Bare. It's interesting how history works, my knowledge of Anne Lindbergh would have ended with the wacky footnote of being the mother of the Lindbergh baby except for my Therapist's love of books and a deeply resonating fear of water that brought the book into my hands. A...

Nobody broke through the ground of their being like Martha Graham. She shared her story through movement, through expression, through psychology. Hers was majesty in action that never failed to enlighten. As choreographer Alonzo King shares "When I see a great dance, I see fearlessness and selflessness. I see Ghandi, Helen Keller, Harriet Tubman, I see sacrifice and unfailing generosity. I see intelligence and intuition. I see humor and joy. I hear a voice guiding me ‘when you fall down, get up. You are able to do more than you think. When you feel you’ve given all you’ve got - give more.’ I see how life can be lived.” As a tribute to all of us pursuing our passion, living in our light and expressing our being-ness. I 'reprint' an article written by Martha Graham. I am a Dancer By Martha Graham I am a dancer. I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same....

And that's how I handled my Divorce. The Bare Melcessities Originally uploaded by Love Everyone THE BARE MELCESSITIES is available at Amazon.com .

We are all speaking of the same human experience We couch it in our art forms and in all we do. It isn’t happenstance that we are drawn Where we are or where we live. It isn’t trauma and triumph That stamps our carriage It is the undeniable commonality That you and they and you and I Share and know and live It is why we weep as a nation It is why we pour out our hearts To our brothers For it is in that luminosity of our aching hearts that We Shine. Photography by Melanie Lutz Here's the soundtrack for today Johnny Cash covering Trent Reznor Nine Inch Nail's Hurt.... "I wear this crown of thorns upon my liars chair, full of broken thoughts, I can not repair. Beneath the stains of time, feelings disappear, you are someone else, I'm still right here." "If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself, I would find a way." As sung by the legend Johnny Cash at the end of his life these words take on meaning and poignancy unintended by the ori...

The Gift of Frankles from Melanie Lutz on Vimeo . My neighbor died April 2nd of this year. We celebrated his birthday over the weekend. To teach is to demonstrate. He taught me to take life as you find it, to live in the adventure of being and in his dying he taught me the meaning of letting go. He road into his latest journey full and whole and complete. He had his family. He had his love. And he lives on. May possibility always be open for business and the spirit of the dreamer that Frank was flourish in his memory.

Been waking up to some amazing emails regarding how inspiring The Bare Melcessities has been in helping people make some changes in their lives. Thank you so much for sharing! If you're thinking "I need to get that book for my sister (or brother or friend) who's having a hard time." The answer is Yes! You do. They need it! Buy a copy, share the bare and let's move into sending the love and spreading healing energy as we head into Thanksgiving! It's time to Start Loving Yourself! Brought to you by Melanie Lutz's THE BARE MELCESSITIES: Walking Out. Waking Up. Getting Bare. Sometimes we need a wake up call and a little help from our friends.

Snapped this picture while taking a walk around the neighborhood. A single yellow rose, bursting forth next to its buddy the tree. It got me thinking about the meaning of flowers, a yellow rose stands for joy and happiness, and is heavily associated with true friendship. I've heard it said, a true friend is like a gift from God sent to help us experience heaven on earth. That's certainly how it feels for me, and if you get biblical it says "heaven is entered two by two." Thanks to all those true friends in our lives, for sharing, supporting and being with us as we journey through our days, making things lighter and happier and filling us with joy, bringing a little bit of heaven in the here and now. You are the best! Photography by Melanie Lutz

Why do we work so hard to get what we don’t want? And how do we get turned around to chasing something that was there all along? End of excerpt... Melanie Lutz's THE BARE MELCESSITIES available at Amazon . Get the support you need to go deeper. Check out the website www.thebaremelcessities.com

"I knew a strength that can only come from facing some hard truths. From seeing a mountain seemingly too high to climb and taking the steps to climb it anyway. The coolest part, reaching the top wasn’t the satisfaction point, it was living on the other side, making mistakes, and growing in the sunlight and sunset of that new day, living with the scars forever a part of who I was, with no fear of others seeing those scars. I had accepted the whole picture, no longer caught in recriminations and distress over some imagined picture of perfection that could never be achieved. Everything contributed to the person that I was. The total picture. Me. At last. When outer success no longer distracts from a deeper knowing, the Bare Melcessities will come to you. How does the story end? It doesn’t. It continues. It all awaits." Excerpt from Melanie Lutz's THE BARE MELCESSITIES: Walking Out. Waking Up. Getting Bare available at Amazon . Get the support you need to go deeper. Check out...

"Get Your Bare On" Campaign for THE BARE MELCESSITIES Coming Soon! Can't wait. Like night before Christmas. Oh, that's right, we'll be spreading the love. The "Get Your Bare On" Campaign will be taking over Valentine's Day 2010 as a full on love yourself day! Now that's something I can fall for. Get ready. Get set. Coming Soon. brought to you by thebaremel.com

Virility and chisled ornery-ness lived and breathed through Jack Palance's performances and his life. Today, as we celebrate his death anniversary, we tip our hats to a legend. The man himself, Jack Palance . Loved him in Shane, but thought this moment from City Slickers with Billy Crystal would do him justice! Check out our post on famed entertainment and trail lawyer Louis Nizer, who also died today, November 10th 1994 in New York City. Hope you sweet spirits are living large beyond the veil! And. Thanks to the fine folks at find a grave for the reference material.

"The mistake of accepting less than you need and convincing yourself you would be fine was the ultimate heartbreaker. I was left out on a limb of my own choosing. Good luck getting off the limb without the fire department, the S.W.A.T rescue team and every known form of coaxing you could find. I was young. I didn’t understand the bargain I had made. I didn’t understand the choice I had given up, and I didn’t understand how it would betray me. I was caught up in the youth and rapture of being in love. It took a long time to release the recriminations. So who needs roses." Excerpted from Melanie Lutz's THE BARE MELCESSITIES "So Who Needs Roses" chapter available at Amazon . Inspired by Jerry Herman's luscious words and music from Mack and Mabel , which beautifully tells the story of Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand's tragic relationship. Would have loved to have found Robert Preston singing it, however, to give you a flavor here's Michael Feinstein perfo...

“A beautiful lady is an accident of nature. A beautiful old lady is a work of art.” This quote by noted trial lawyer Louis Nizer exemplifies a truth. Beauty is an expression of our inner journey well fared. Laugh lines, love lines and life lines, all in. Let's definitely appreciate the accidents of nature, but strive to make our lives a work of art as we grow younger into our advancing ages. Cool footnote... "Nizer helped create the motion picture ratings system for the Motion Picture Association of America, which he served as general counsel."

"If there were more people who cared there would be fewer people to care for." Dorothy Fields is one of my inspirations, born into a theatrical family, she transcended feminine stereotypes and left behind a legacy of balls out, heart rendering, inspiring lyrics. So grateful for those moments when I can take a beat and enjoy her style and substance and the effortless way she made the connections. One of my favorite things is listening to composers and lyricists speak about and perform their own works. Lucky for us ASCAP honored Dorothy Fields with an intimate Evening with Dorothy Fields in 1972. Here's a shout out to Dorthy Fields. You are with us in song, and we'll always have "that laugh that wrinkles your nose, touches my foolish heart." ps. Don't get me started about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers! Opening lyric excerpt from "If There Were More People Like You" lyrics by Dorothy Fields and music by Cy Coleman . A Class Act series brought...

Hulk Hogan opens his new book, Hulk Hogan: Life Beyond The Ring, with a gun in his hand and suicide on the brain. He describes sitting in an empty mansion filled with nothing but pictures of a family he was no longer connected to as his wake up call. Hogan talks about life, love, and bouncing back as he works through journeying into his new life. Check out his interview on the Today show. Check out his book at Amazon.com . Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy The Waking Up Profiles are brought to you by Melanie Lutz's THE BARE MELCESSITIES: Walking Out. Waking Up. Getting Bare. Get the support you need to go deeper. THE BARE MELCESSITIES is available at Amazon . Check out the website www.thebaremelcessities.com