Forever Aquarius -- #Birthday #Idealism #AgeOfAquarius

Harmony and understanding,

Sympathy and trust abounding,

No more falsehoods or derisions,

Golden living dreams of visions,

Mystic crystal revelation,

And the mind’s true liberation...

“Age of Aquarius” by James Rado and Jerome Ragni

From Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (1967)

I was born on January 31^st, smack in the middle of the period for the sun-sign Aquarius. Although I’ve never put much stock in astrology—I find it difficult to believe that remote stars and planets could influence our personalities or our fates—I have to admit that my character fits the classic description of the Water Bearer amazingly well. Aquarians are supposed to be independent dreamers, intellectuals, humanitarians and idealists. Sometimes they are contrary and rebellious against authority when it conflicts with their visions. Compared to some other signs, Aquarians may seem emotionally remote; they live in their heads more than their bodies.

Recognize me? I do.

I was also born in the mid-nineteen fifties, so I came of age in the sixties and seventies. Songs from the musical “Hair” were my anthems as a teen. I was convinced that a new dawn truly was on its way, that “the times they are a-changing”, in the words of another icon of those years. Compassion and love would overcome hatred. Justice would vanquish oppression. Peace would reign. Creativity would flourish. A new openness and mutual respect would liberate us from the societal prohibitions and taboos about sexuality, leading to greater happiness and satisfaction for all.

What a dreamer, right? Look around you. Disasters, violence, famine. Ignorant, selfish materialism. Global warning. Nuclear proliferation. Rape and other atrocities. Millions of human beings worldwide forced from their homes, struggling to survive in strange lands where they are demonized and distrusted.

Surely I must be disillusioned.

Not really.

If you do the math, you’ll figure out that I’m now in my sixties. And after more than six decades on earth, I still believe in the power of love and compassion. I’ve seen the magic of kindness work wonders on a personal level. I’ve observed first hand the beauty of community, the power of people working together for good. And I’m totally convinced of the truth of karma, which also happens to be a foundational principle of magic: what we sow, we reap.

I have seen how violence breeds violence, how the oppressed can easily become oppressors. I question whether there’s such a thing as a “just war”. When I read about a terrorist or a white supremacist, about gay people beaten or murdered by homophobic gangs, about Buddhists slaughtering Muslims in Myanmar, Jews attacking Palestinians and vice versa, Sunnis and Shias trading bombs, I try to remember that each of these individuals is a human being—more like me than different.

We all want and need certain things: food, shelter, family, security, status, a level of comfort. Love. Much of the horror we see around us stems from fear on the part of the part of the perpetrators: fear of scarcity, of losing resources or power or status, and fear of the Other. Politicians and governments deliberately stoke these fears for their own benefit. Take away the fear and maybe the opponents will see that they are not so different.

I’m not traditionally religious, but I believe in John 4:18:

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."

I believe in the basic goodness of humanity and the overall upward trend of society. Furthermore, statistics support my beliefs.

World hunger statistics show that the number of hungry has dropped twenty percent since the nineties: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/288229/icode/

Worldwide, violence has declined dramatically or time:

https://www.edge.org/conversation/mc2011-history-violence-pinker

Meanwhile other positive indicators, like literacy, educational level and political freedom, have improved:

https://ourworldindata.org/slides/war-and-violence/#/title-slide

The educational, economic, social and health status of women relative to men continues to get better, though major inequalities still exist:

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2016/wp1621.pdf

Impressive progress has been made toward fulfilling the United Nations’ ambitious Millenium Development Goals (MDG), though there is still much to do:

http://datatopics.worldbank.org/mdgs/

So why does it seem that we’re living in the most violent, heartless, miserable, insecure period in history? The media have a great deal to do with this. Stories about conflict, crime, disasters and atrocities attract more attention and sell more advertising than those about harmonious communities or successful mediation. The instant availability of news from anywhere, plus the fact that such news is more likely to be negative than positive, lead us to the perception that the world has never been in worse shape and is going to straight to hell.

Do we face serious challenges? Of course we do. From what I can see, though, taking a negative perspective exacerbates these problems, instead pushing us to solve them. Anger is not a reliable long-term motivator. It may catalyze dramatic, sudden action, but is unlikely to contribute to analytic thinking. Despair saps the will completely. Negativism fuels amoral selfishness; if the world’s about to end, why shouldn’t I do what I feel like and damn the social consequences?

Many readers may be shaking their heads. “She’s a deluded optimist,” they’re saying. “A soft-headed pacifist. We’ve got to fight 45, fight the Nazis, fight the North Koreans, fight the Islamic terrorists, fight the male chauvinists, fight for equality, fight for a decent wage, fight for our piece of the pie...”

I believe that if you view your life as a fight, it will become one.

I’ll work for the things I believe, but I’m not going to cast that activity as a war, because I don’t want to think of my fellow humans as enemies (difficult as it may be to avoid this).

Seriously, I believe that our minds control our experiences. I am convinced that so-called reality is malleable, shifting as we change how we think about it.

And I’ve spent my life working to make the Age of Aquarius more than just a song.

Saucy, Sassy and Sexy ... A visit to Grinders Corner -- #ReviewTuesday #giveaway #romcom

Blurb

Grinders Corner explores the world of taxi dance halls in the 1960s in all its raw hilarity.  Saucy, sassy and sexy, but not the least bit erotic, it follows the adventures of three young women trying to survive in the glitter palaces of Los Angeles.
Like lambs led to the slaughter, Uptown, a newly divorced English major with panic anxiety disorder and no job skills, Voluptua, an out of work actress, and Mouse, a former child star trying to make a comeback all struggle to make enough tickets to pay the bills.  

Things get complicated when Uptown falls in love with a customer who happens to be a priest.
 
In Grinders Corner it was a simpler time, long before gentlemen’s clubs and pole dancers, and it happened in a place where shy, lonely men could talk to women, even dance with them, with no fear of rejection—for about fifteen cents a minute.

Excerpt

Downtown Los Angeles

Romanceland, 1969

The jukebox was playing Close To You. The lights were low and romantic, the red candles on the intimate little tables for two flickered seductively, and the many-faceted, mirrored chandelier reflected tiny droplets of shivering, shimmering light onto the dance floor. His strong arms were about me, and he was lightly kissing my ear. Then he spoke in a throaty whisper.

“Hey, baby, you wanna make a quick twenty five bucks? Let’s go to a motel.”

Oh God, I thought, as I looked at the clock. One more hour to go. I’m going to have to put up with this clown for sixty more minutes unless he runs out of money. Maybe I can get him to sit down and have a Coke. Then I won’t have to endure this tortuous ritual known as dancing. If we get a Coke, I’ll have to make conversation with him and that might be worse than dancing.

The only good thing about dancing is that I don’t have to talk to him. I only have to hear about the motel.

He was staring at me as if waiting for a reply, so I asked, “What did you say?”

Okay, that isn’t particularly original but it used up a couple of seconds. Then he had to repeat it all. That took a few more minutes.

I started to think maybe I could make it to the two o’clock finishing line, but I was wrong. He wasn’t slobbering on my ear anymore. Now it was my bare shoulder.

“Hey, I’m kind of thirsty,” I said. “Why don’t we sit down and have a Coke?”

“Baby, I don’t want a Coke.”

“Oh, hell,” I said as I deftly stepped out of his reach. “Let’s go to the desk so you can check out.”

He retorted with, “How about fifty bucks? I’ll buy you a steak besides.”

I smiled, thinking how delicious that can of beans at home was going to taste. “I’m sorry. I’m not in that line of business.”

“Whaddya wanna do—get married?” he yelled.

Review

What do you do when you’re newly-divorced, broke, have no job skills, and although you live in Los Angeles, are too anxious to drive on the freeway? That’s the dilemma facing the heroine of Grinder’s Corner, a fictionalized memoir by Ferris H. Craig and Charlene Keel.

Working as a “Beautiful Hostess” at the Romanceland dance hall in gritty downtown LA isn’t exactly the oldest profession, but it’s not that many steps away, either. Uptown (as she is christened by her friends Mouse and Voluptua) endures sweaty bodies, bad breath, wandering hands, constant lewd propositions, and the occasional frottage orgasm as her customers grind themselves against some random body part, all for the princely sum of fifteen cents per minute. It’s a difficult job, not one anyone would choose, but Uptown doesn’t think she has a choice.

Then she falls in love with one of her customers, a handsome, polite, normal-seeming guy—who turns out to be a straying Catholic father. As if her life isn’t tough enough!

Grinder’s Corner is surprising, entertaining and very smoothly written. Uptown’s educated but somewhat clueless voice dominates the book, while Mouse’s fractured fairy tales and Voluptua’s flamboyant sexuality provide comic relief. Probably the best part of the book is Uptown’s tortured relationship with Don the Priest. Although he’s attractive, clean, shy rather than pushy, and truly loves her, in many ways he’s not that different from the members of the Other Species who haunt the dance halls. Like them, he’s lonely, horny, tends to take women for granted, and feels that his own life and career come first.

The pain he puts Uptown through made me ache in sympathy. Still, she changes and matures in response to the travails of her love affair, growing in confidence and letting go of some of her anxiety. One can only hope that soon she’ll figure out that she has control over her life, that Romanceland or its ilk is not her only option.

I have one criticism of the book. It is set in late sixties southern California, but to me conveyed almost no sense of the time or the place. Aside from the lack of cell phones, and the fact that dance halls are long gone, Grinder’s Corner might have been a contemporary story. The nineteen sixties were tumultuous, garish, troubled, conflicted, wild. There were urban riots and men walking on the moon. None of this ferment comes through in the book. There are few if any period details: no teased hair styles or go-go boots, no hippies or pigs. This isn’t the sixties I lived through.

However, there’s a lot of irony, humor and warmth in this book. I gather from the conclusion that it’s based on real life experiences. Nineteen sixty nine was a long time ago. Perhaps some of the environmental details have faded, but clearly the memories of the job itself are still vivid and powerful.

About the Authors

Ferris Craig is a professional dancer, choreographer, actor and writer. Her credits include The Dean Martin Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Honeymooners, The Golden Girls and many TV commercials. In the 1970s she performed with The Hollywood Hoofers in Las Vegas, later establishing The Burbank Academy of Performing Arts where she taught dance and acting. More recently, she choreographed and performed for The Broadway Seniorettes, and with Recycled Teenagers (dancers over 50). Currently she lives in Southern California with her three delightful dogs. Connect with Ferris on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecricketdance

Charlene Keel has written over a dozen novels and how-to books. Shadow Train, the final installment of her YA supernatural trilogy, won a Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer’s Choice Award, and The Congressman’s Wife (for Red Sky Presents) is getting rave reviews. Her new blended-genre novel, Lost Treasures of the Heart, was released in November, 2016.

Keel has also worked as editor for international magazines, including Playgirl, For the Brideand Black Elegance. She says the most fun she’s had as an editor (so far) was at Spice, a fanzine featuring rap, R&B, soul and gospel music. During her time there, she enjoyed going to parties for such notables as Puff Daddy, having lunch with Gloria Gaynor and attending a pasta dinner where Mariah Carey did the cooking.

Keel’s editorial assignments include The Health of Nations, a book on political philosophy, and That Nation Might Live, a moving tribute to Sarah Bush Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s stepmother. Her TV credits include Fantasy Island and Days of Our Lives, and her book, Rituals, was the basis for the first made-for-syndication soap opera. She also produced (for Romantic Times) the first annual Mr. Romance Cover Model Pageant.

Buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/Grinders-Corner-Saucy-Occasionally-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0725ZQ243/https://www.amazon.com/Grinders-Corner-Saucy-Occasionally-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0725ZQ243

The book is on sale for only $0.99.

Giveaway!

Ferris H. Craig & Charlene Keel will be awarding two winners, a free copy of Grinders Corner (print or ebook). (U.S. only for print, International for ebook) to two randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.

Winners will also receive a fantastic Kama Sutra gift basket. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway