Tag Archives: Jon Bon Jovi

It’s A Celebration!

“It’s My One Year Blogoversary Everybody!”
 

Party…Party…Party!
 

Whoa! Has it been one year already? Well, actually my one year blogoversary was a couple of months ago, October 30th to be exact, but I was no where to be found. šŸ™‚
 
Yet, something like this is just too important to miss, donā€™t ya think?
 

So let’s get this party started, shall we?
 

Hey, do any of you remember this?
 

(Don Barlett/L.A. Times)

Ah, good times, good times.
 

I thought it might be interesting if we took a brief look back at all that’s been accomplished here on my blog over the previous year. What was my objective at the beginning of this blogging adventure? To find out, let’s take a peek and see if I even came close to hitting the mark.
 

Hereā€™s what I said, ā€œMy hope is that through my writing I will be able to touch peopleā€™s lives and connect with others that will in someway benefit them and not just myself.ā€
 

Was that a load of crap? Well, I don’t know. Let’s see how I did?
 

It turns out I wrote 56 posts over the entire year. Not bad, since there was a whole lot going on as you well know. I had over 2300 comments, which granted some of them Iā€™m quite sure were my replies in response to yours. But all and all, I couldnā€™t be happier. Itā€™s always good to know that I am not out there talking to myself since I am of the belief that itā€™s not very healthy. Am I right Louise Biehel and Kassandra Lamb?
 

I also received a lot of visits from gazillions of spammers. You know, those freaky bots that try to invade your posts. And I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Akisment for that little configuration because if it wasnā€™t for them, we bloggers would go nuts. šŸ™‚
 

Iā€™ve had some wonderful guest bloggers in the house, starting with Donna Newton, then Colin Falconer, Natalie Hartford, Angela Peart, Barry Crowther, Tim L. Oā€™Brien, Diane Capri, Bob Mayer, Katherine Owen and Julia Whitmore who shared their valuable knowledge and experience about the craft of writing.
 

And any time one of you would like to take a shot at a guest post on my blog, you have an open invitation to join in. Weā€™d all love to hear from you!
 

Okay, so what else happened?
 

Well, I can’t say that anything earth shattering happened here. It’s not like we’re trying to solve all the problems of the universe or bring about world peace. šŸ™‚
 

But we did have some fun talking about animals, both big and small that included a shark attack, a Gorilla and a cute little puppy that got stuck on a runaway train. We had someone stranded as if they were Tom Hanks at an airport for eight days. Tom Cruise jumped out a window from the tallest building in the world while Jon Bon Jovi fed people from a kitchen with a heart full of soul.
 

There were posts about sports, nature, artists, and food. A bittersweet post about making lemonade out of lemons and a very Sexy green leafy vegetable named Kale. *Shivers*
 

Yet, through it all, I tried to bring the gift of optimism to the forefront. Thatā€™s not always easy to do with everything that’s happened over the past year in everyone’s life. But even though I may still be ā€œHanging On For Dear Lifeā€, as was the title of my first post, I feel a great sense of accomplishment and immense appreciation for all of you. For each week you showed up. Each week you came to support me. And for that I cannot thank you enough!
 
 

So grab yourself some cyber champagneā€¦


 

And letā€™s “Celebrate good times, come on! Itā€™s a celebration!”

*
 
 

“Happy Blogoversary!”

 
 
So what do you think? Can I ā€œHangā€ in there for another year? Was there a post over the past year that you particularly enjoyed? Is there a topic that you would like to see me blog about? And what about you? Whatā€™s changed since you started blogging and what has helped you on the road to success?
 
 

Thank you so much for dropping by and for all your wonderful comments!
Karen

 
 

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I’m A Soul Man

For most of us the name of this title might conjure up memories of a Blues Brothers performance.Ā  Though they did a marvelous job with covering a groovy hit, they are not who I wish to talk about.

 

His name is Jon Bon Jovi.

Why am I talking about Jon Bon Jovi? Oh come on Karen, youā€™ve got to be kidding me, right? The guy has been singing, rocking and swinging his hair around in front of us on stage for more than 30 years. Well thank God he got rid of the hair a while back. (Ted Nugent take note! Have you ever heard of Locks of Love?) But seriously, why Jon Bon Jovi?

It is obvious that Jon Bon Jovi as a philanthropist has been involved with many charitable organizations over the years. He has funded houses for Habitat for Humanity. He has contributed to the Children with Aids Foundation. He has participated in the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center, just to name a few. Then in 2006, he launched his own organization ā€œthe Bon Jovi Soul Foundationā€. Heā€™s been quoted in Britainā€™s Daily Telegraph Newspaper as saying, ā€œI think Volunteerism should be fashionable. Thatā€™s my goal: To make volunteering the new black.ā€

In mid October, Jon and his wife Dorothea opened a new restaurant in an old auto body shop near the Red Bank train station in central New Jersey. Itā€™s called the Soul Kitchen and one can eat there if you volunteer to pay it forward or pay-what-you-can. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful. Its tables are covered in cloth, serving up delectable dishes prepared by a chef with entrees such as cornmeal crusted catfish with red beans and rice, grilled chicken breast with homemade basil mayo and rice pilaf, and grilled salmon with soul seasonings, sweet potato mash and sautĆ©ed greens, many of which were grown in the herb and vegetable garden right outside the restaurant’s doors. Sounds great right? But hereā€™s the catch.

ā€œThereā€™s no prices on our menu, so if you want to come and you want to make a difference, leave $20 in the envelope on the table. If you canā€™t afford to eat, you can bus tables, you can wait tables, you can work in the kitchen as a dishwasher or sous chef,ā€ Jon said. ā€œIf you say to me, ā€˜Iā€™m not a people person, ā€˜I say, ā€˜Thatā€™s not a problem. Weā€™ll take you back to Lunch Break to volunteer with those people. If you donā€™t want to volunteer with that, weā€™ll take you to the Food Bank.ā€

Jon Bon Jovi made it very clear, ā€œThis is not an entitlement thing. This is about empowering people because you have to earn that gift certificate.ā€ But he did say, ā€œIf you come in and say, I’m hungry, we’ll feed you. But weā€™re going to need you to do something. Itā€™s very important to what weā€™re trying to achieve.ā€

Why go to all this bother one might ask? That all sounds a bit swanky for a glorified undercover soup kitchen. But hereā€™s what Jon had to say in regard to families, ā€œWith the economic downturn, one of the things I noticed was that disposable income was one of the first things that wentā€”a lot of memories were made around restaurant tables.ā€ (Could many of the people that youā€™re referring to Jon be Living on a Prayer?) Then apparently on the night of the grand opening of his new establishment, Jon was seen in the kitchen rolling up his shirtsleeves and volunteering as a dishwasher. He claims he canā€™t cook.

 

So please tell me, what do you think? Does Jon have a lot of soul? Having soul means to show fellow feeling, emotion, passion, empathy and compassion. What kind of examples pop into your mind of people you know that have soul? Do you have soul? Can we have more soul? And do you find this important? Do any of you volunteer in your community? What does it mean to you to have soul?

Thank you for your many thoughts and salutations.

Karen McFarland

 

A big shout out to Kristen Lamb and all my new classmates in my #WANA1011 class and all others that may grace my presence by visiting this post. Take care and make it a great day!

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