.i will remember the king of pop.

How is it possible to be touched by the passing of a person that you’ve never met but feel like you’ve known all your life? The reality of Michael Jackson’s passing did not hit me until a few days after it actually happened. How could someone so amazingly talented and seemingly on top of the world—be gone in a matter of moments? It was much too difficult for me to handle and believe—or even want to believe. You see, I grew up with a love for music and dance. I can say with all honesty that I owe a lot of that to Michael Jackson. His music was definitely a part of my childhood. I remember playing my Dads cassette tapes filled with MJ’s music and blasting his songs in my garage while my neighbors and I danced away. We’d choreograph short routines to Billy Jean and Beat it. We even tried our best to imitate the King of Pop’s moves—as if we could. As silly as it sounds, the "Making of Thriller" was one of my all time favorite videos to watch. I'd watch it over and over so I understood how such (at the time) a scary video was made. The zombies freaked me out but once I knew the behind-the-scenes secrets, I laughed at myself for being so scared. I even memorized the dance moves which prompted my love for dance. Because of this I grew up learning the art of ballet, jazz, and even hula. Being that we were just young kids at the time—little did I realize, MJ’s music would prove to be legendary and his life would be cut without warning many years later. How could I fathom that I would be a grown adult going about my daily work day and would come across a newsflash that Michael, at the age of 50 would be rushed to the hospital with reports of cardiac arrest? At 50 years old?! Despite his tremulous lifestyle, he was a person. One who was a talented individual who was able to do what most people in this world will never EVER be able to do. That was to touch the hearts and souls of many human beings all around the globe with his voice through music, the ENTIRE globe! I choose to remember Michael Jackson as a performer and singer who possessed a priceless perfection when it came to his gift. Whatever negative comments people choose to say about him and the accusations that surrounded him are words that I will try to ignore. He is gone from this Earth now—and no one will ever know the truth about his life. What we will know is that his art is timeless—and that is undeniable. I know in my heart that his music will never get old—even as we all will. I'll never forget the man who made a white glitter glove so famous and the way he magically floated across the stage with a move we all know as the moonwalk. As Michael is memorialized and buried this coming week in Los Angeles, a part of my childhood will be with him as he is placed in his final resting place. RIP Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009).

.lakers vs. magic + twitter-bug + vick is out.

Of course, the minute I complain about the Lakers vs. Magic series being BORING—Game 2 proved me wrong. With an exciting OT victory, the Lakers proved once again why they truly belong in the Finals this year. The Lakers really pulled together, most especially Odom & Gasol (and of course KB) which was no match for Howard, Lewis & Co. The Magic stood strong but in my eyes played with no sense of urgency which I believe was the cause of their breakdown during OT. Even though I'm a Laker fan, I wanted to look Howard in the eyes and tell him, "Play like you want it, Superman!". It should get even more interesting as the series moves to Orlando for the next 3 games. I expect Van Gundy to light a fire under his team unless they want to get swept at their own home court. That would be no bueno! I caught a bit of the post-game press conference and KB was asked about his game face. "Kobe, now that the Lakers are up 2-0 in the series, are you finally able to crack a smile?" asked a journalist jokingly. Kobe responds (with no smile of course), “…what’s there to smile about, the job isn’t done”. That’s hardcore Kobe for you. As for tonight’s courtside action, I enjoyed watching Lakers #1 fan Jack chat it up with players (from both teams) and even stand up and scream at the officials as they called a foul on his Lakers. Jack wasn’t the only celebrity at the game, as I learned from my new sidekick “Twitter”.

Speaking of Twitter, it’s been a couple of weeks since I jumped on and since then…it’s been pretty revealing to say the least. The best way for me to describe it is, “Better than an US Weekly”. Seriously, I am so much more “in the know” on who’s doing what thanks to all my twitter updates. If I wanted, I could even interact with the folks that I usually only read about in the news columns or watch on TV. It’s actually kind of neat—makes me wonder; is Twitter just a fad or a great way for celebs to let their fans take a peek into their world long term? Regardless, I’m enjoying all of it… the little blurbs from T.O. as he vents about house hunting in Buffalo and The Hills cast sending messages back and forth to each other about where they are going clubbing, what their eating for dinner, and even posting photos of what they are doing. Diddy's updates are motivating and he always manages to remind me about Ciroc! Little Miley and Mr. Ashton posts random thoughts and photos quite often. Call it too much information, I call it FUN! I even heard from Kimora Lee about her new baby name first because she announced it on Twitter! Here’s the actually post when her new little one came, “Welcome into the world Kenzo Lee Hounsou. Kimora's + Djimon's baby boy was born on Saturday May, 30th. He was 8 lbs and 20 inches.” How cute! Btw, I saw an article about Kimora's announcement on people.com the following morning and they mentioned Twitter as their source for the news! Haha, by then it was old news to me! :) Kimora posted a photo of herself in the hospital (via Twitter)…doesn’t she look great?! Yes, she was twittering while at the hospital...sharing with her followers that she was in labor!
In news unrelated to Twitter; according to Profootballtalk.com—“Suspended QB Michael Vick's $10-an-hour construction job has been going smoothly and he's been showing up on time.” That’s good news considering the fact that Vick’s every move is more than likely being tracked by the NFL to aid in the decision making process by Commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell will have to answer when Michael Vick files his NFL reinstatement papers sometime after July 20. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve been torn about the whole Michael Vick saga since the day I found out about his heinous crimes. I’m a dog lover so it was extremely heartbreaking to find out that a role model who people (including kids) have cheered for in the sports world took it upon himself to cause pain and suffering to animals. All for the love of money? I really can’t accept that as a good enough excuse but then again, money makes people do crazy things. He has served his time and is seemingly showing remorse, so a second chance isn’t out of the question. I’m sure glad that I’m not in Roger Goodell’s shoes—his decision is going to upset people either way it goes I’m sure.Peace,
Lakers,
& Second chances,
-c

.tweet tweet.

I have a ton of stuff to catch you up on. I know it's been a while since I've posted and my excuse is my schedule (really!). It's been hectic the last couple of months to say the least. I'm doing well if you are wondering. Work is great and I've been busy with some really exciting events. I know when I started this blog, it was a commitment that I'd update it timely with fun and exciting stories and experiences of my life. Lately, that has been somewhat challenging. To help bridge the gap between my fellow blog friends and my scheduling issues, I decided to take the plunge and sign up for a twitter account. If CNN and Oprah can do it, why can't I? So, a few weeks ago I did it. I signed up and I was official. Funny thing was, after that...I had no idea how to update it from my iphone (such a newb). Weeks went by and finally THANKS to facebook and my wonderful friends, I found the answer! One day I posted a status update asking for some advice: "how in the world can I twitter via my iphone?". Instantly, I got some responses from friends suggesting an app called "Tweetie". I found it on the itunes store and after downloading and updating it to my iphone--WOW! I was actually LIVE and was able to see the twitters off all kinds of people. In addition to my friends, I'm following Diddy, Kim Kardashian, and Terrell Owens to name a few. It's fun and easy...what ever took me so long? Now my only problem is, do I update my twitter or my facebook. I don't have enough time in the day to do both. I'm leaning towards twitter so maybe I'll see you all on?! Follow me friends...I made it SO easy. Find me under "lovemystar"~ tweet tweet. :)

Love,
Peace,
& Tweetie~
-c

.the FABulous life of kobe bryant.

I came across this amazingly well written article by ESPN the magazine's columnist Rick Reilly. It made me smile while reading it because I could picture his experience in my mind... as if I was right there with him. These are the types of articles that I look up to. For your reading pleasure, please enjoy it below~ and BTW, a job well done Mr. Reilly.

It's 49 miles from Kobe Bryant's house in Orange County to Staples Center and yet, even in a Ferrari, it takes him 10 hours and 16 minutes.

What takes him so long? You're about to ride shotgun and find out:

7:15 a.m. Nearly $140 into a cab ride from my place, a security gate opens at the end of a very swank cul de sac to reveal Kobe Bryant, father of two, standing in front of seven vehicles—the Ferrari, the Range Rover, the Escalade, the Bentley Coupe, the two-door plastic Fred Flintstone car, the training-wheels bike and the tricycle smashed into a bush.

"You ready to go?" he asks. "I hate to be late."

I have a bag and nowhere to put it, since the Ferrari is basically a 503-horsepower engine with two seats. So he takes two helmets out of the trunk and puts the bag in.

Helmets for a car? Uh-oh.

7:21 a.m. I immediately spill my coffee in the $300,000-plus Ferrari, but how was I supposed to know he'd demonstrate its 0 to 60 mph in 3.1-seconds right at the very moment I was about to sip my delicious venti mochachino?

Trying to wipe up the puddle with my sock without him noticing and trying to be heard over the Ferrari's throaty roar, I nearly yell my interview:

Me: Why are we leaving so early for a 6:30 Clippers game?

Bryant: "Game day. Lots to do."

Me: Why does a Los Angeles Laker live clear down in Weeds suburbia?

Bryant: "It's peaceful. It's a better place to bring up kids. Nice people down here."

Me: What's the fastest you've ever driven this thing?

Bryant: "We're about to find out."

Me (to self): Did I ever complete my will?

Of course, the 11-time All Star doesn't always drive to work. Sometimes he has one of his off-duty, armed, Lakers-provided, police officers take him in a customized van so he can watch scouting DVDs and ice his feet and knees. (He ices them for 20 minutes three times a day. The man spends more time in ice than Ted Williams.) Occasionally, though, he charters a helicopter. "Sometimes, there's just things you cannot miss."

Like?

"Like my daughter's soccer game. Because what if I miss her first goal?"

Can't say I ever choppered into one of my daughter's soccer games, but still.

Bryant, 30, has been known to get up earlier than many barn owls to conduct his famously brutal workouts. One time, Larry Drew II—who now plays at North Carolina—asked to shadow him on one.

"OK," Kobe said. "Pick you up at 3:30."

But 3:30 came and went and Kobe never showed. Then, at 3:30 the next morning, he was ringing Drew's doorbell.

"You ready?" Kobe asked.

"I like to just get up and get it done," he explained to me, "then I'm back home and nobody's even up. Haven't missed a thing."

7:30 a.m. Bryant pulls the yellow Ferrari up to a massive OC health club and leaves it. This will happen many times today, leaving the car right in front of buildings. Gods do not park.

Today is a Sunday and it's bothering him that he'll have to miss coloring with his girls—6 and 2—watching Ariel in The Little Mermaid for the 1,003rd time with his girls and going to Disneyland with the girls. But he's obsessed with winning the 2009 NBA title, which means he's committed to his boys. He wants to be as chiseled as possible for the coming playoff pounding. That's why it's no surprise we're met by Tim Grover, Michael Jordan's genius strength and conditioning coach.

Grover puts Bryant through a game-day workout like I've never seen. (Warning: If you don't want to feel like a complete jelly-filled donut, don't read this next part.) Among a dozen other drills, Bryant does suicide push-ups. At the top of the pushup, he launches himself off the mat so hard that both his feet come off the ground and his hands slap his pecs. He does three sets of seven of these. This makes me turn away and whimper softly.

8:35 a.m. Bryant wheels the asphalt-eating Ferrari onto the 405 North and begins answering my questions about this remarkable comeback he's making in America, in basketball and in his life, which would be fascinating, if it weren't for the 70 mph-circus going on all around us.

People are pulling up next to us and waving. And screaming. And taking pictures with their cell phones. And honking. And craning back in their seats to see. And not watching the road. And getting too damn close. And Kobe doesn't seem to see any of it.

"Life is really good now," he's saying.

Kobe! Kill 'em tonight! Yeeeeaaahhh bbbboy!

"And it's funny. A lot of these companies who dumped us during the [sexual assault] trial [in which all charges were dropped] are calling us now asking us to come back. And I just kind of smile and go, 'No. No, thanks, homie. We're good.' But that hurt, dude. To just be dropped like that. It hurt."

The guy in the Toyota Tundra is signaling that he wants an autograph.

"But my wife and I, we toughed it out. She and I, we got through it. We're going to be celebrating our … "

Two morons are motioning to me that they'd like Kobe to get off at the next exit and take a picture with them.

" … eight-year anniversary together. And when I think about how I almost lost it, the family and everything … "

I can read their lips: "Dude! Please?!"

" … I'm just very thankful and blessed. It was really close there for awhile."

Even a Weekly Shopper reporter would follow that answer up with, "What do you mean?" But a knucklehead in a Ford truck is trying to cut in front of us so his buddy can take a picture out of the back window, so I ask, "Do you ever wreck on this commute?"

"No," he says with a grin, "but one time, this one guy was looking back and hit the guy in front of him. Not hard or anything, but he definitely hit the guy. It was kinda funny."

With all that chaos, I can't really vouch for the accuracy of all this, but I'm pretty sure Bryant says:

• He's taken up golf. Played Pelican Hill the other day with Maris Valainis, who played Jimmy Chitwood in Hoosiers.
• If I weren't in the car, he'd be listening to Lil Wayne, Jay-Z or Biggie Smalls.
• He loves marketing and advertising. In fact, he conceived and wrote a Carl's Jr. poster, which featured Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and himself, and the slogan: "They Who Endure, Conquer."
• He and his wife, Vanessa, have no nannies.
• Most sports talk radio makes him nauseous.
• He's addicted to Discovery Channel, loves to spear fish, and reads New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.
• He has no plans to opt out of his contract at the end of this season, but "you can never absolutely say no, right?"
• His daughters speak a mix of English, Spanish and Italian.
• He'd like to have a boy.

Forty minutes, 37 missed quotes, and 118 gawkers later, we've gone the 43 miles from the health club in OC to the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo, right near LAX, for shootaround. He pulls up to the spot in front of the door, gets out of the car and doesn't lock it. It's all I can do not to get on my knees and kiss the ground.

12:03 p.m. After his two hours of shooting and stretching, we're off to a downtown hotel, where Kobe will ice, shower, sleep, eat (it's always the same: chicken, rice and broccoli), watch scouting DVDs and make calls until it's time to go. This time we're following one of the off-duty cops, who's driving the gray van.

"Why are we following the cop?" I ask.

"Because I need my jug to ice," he says.

"So why don't we take it ourselves?" I ask.

"Won't fit."

Do you love it? His ice jug gets a police escort.

"What if you can't sleep at the hotel?" I ask as he leadfoots it up the 110 North. "What do you do? Walk around downtown L.A.?"

He laughs and looks at me like I just landed from the planet Nimrod.

"Uh, no. I can't walk around LA. There are fans and then there are LAKER fans. LAKER fans are, like, 10 times more into it than regular fans."

Example: One time, he met a man who had the exact same tattoos as him. Literally, the exact same tattoos, down to the size, color, font, style, even the names of his daughters, his wife, the Bible verses, the crown, everything. And this was in Ohio.

"I mean, what do you say to something like that?" he says, still amazed. "I'm like, 'Wow.' And then I whispered to my security guy, 'Get his social security, OK?'"

12:14 p.m. Four security guards are waiting for us at the hotel. We leave the Ferrari AND the van out front, go through a side entrance, up a freight elevator, to a suite that's waiting for him. What does he pay for use of the suite for a full season? Zippo! "I just take care of them with playoff tickets."

Does the man ever see the inside of his wallet?

5:03 p.m. I get a call on the phone in my room and it's the cop, sounding urgent. "Mr. Reilly? Kobe is going to need to leave in exactly one minute. He was mistaken as to the start of tonight's game. Can you be expedited down here immediately?"

"Uh, well, yeah, I can expedite."

"Good. Much appreciated. Kobe doesn't like to be late."

So I've heard.

Turns out he thought it was a 7:30 start. "I'm such an idiot," he admits. "I do this all the time."

The drive to Staples is going to be a very expedited three minutes, so I have a lot of ground to make up.

How bad do you want this title?

"Beyond your comprehension," he says. "I'm obsessed. It keeps me awake at night."

Can this team do it?

"Yeah, we can do it. We're better equipped this time. Last time (in the finals) we ran into a buzzsaw. That Celtics team was hungry. And not just hungry, but full of hungry veterans."

How long do you want to play?

"I'd love to play until I'm 40, but I'm not sure anybody would want me then. Put it this way: I'll play as long as they'll let me."

As a couple in a red Hyundai shrieks, "Kobe! Kobe! Take care of us tonight!" he turns into the players' gate, where a guy with a mirror on a pole checks under the Ferrari for bombs. I'm terrified what they'll find.

Excuse me, Mr. Bryant? There seems to be mochachino leaking from your car?

He pulls it right up front, hops out, and immediately there's a still photographer and a mini-cam taking our picture as we walk. I try to get away, but he yanks me back into the shot. "Just mean mug it," he whispers. He wears the expression of a mafia don on the way to a trial. I try it, but I can't pull it off. I look like a man suffering upper gastro-intestinal blockage.

I try to say goodbye and thanks, but he's on the phone to his daughters, going "Ciao, bella!" as he walks into the locker room.

It's 5:31 p.m. The Kobe Kommute is over. He's still got the game to go. (The Lakers will defeat the Clippers, 88-85, with Bryant scoring 18 points on 5-for-15 shooting—proving that, occasionally, Kobe DOES miss things.) As for me, I'm so exhausted, there's only one thing I want to do.

Go somewhere quiet and watch Ariel.

What did I tell you? The guy can write, huh? Go Lakers! -c

.knock you down. [keri hilson]

It's been a while since I've posted a video of the week so I owe you a good one. This song features not 1 but, 3 talented artists. I love this collaboration, I hope you do too. Enjoy~ :)

.have a heart.

I am more than shocked and disappointed at the news of what transpired between a Dallas police officer and Texans running back Ryan Moats on March 18, 2009. What happened in front of the hospital where his mother-in-law lay dying of cancer was unbelievable. Shame on Officer Robert Powell who showed no compassion for human life and obviously had no common sense in a matter that truly was "life or death". Here's the full scoop, courtesy of ESPN.com: Officer delayed NFL player as his relative died. The video in the article is worth watching...you won't believe your eyes.

.blah.

It's 8:30 on a Monday evening. As I sit here in front of my computer with a warm cup of freshly homemade Starbucks (with a splash of my favorite Italian Sweet Cream); I have a confession.

I'm in a sports slump at the moment and I'm not proud of it.

I'm sure you may have wondered where in the world I've been. I don't have an excuse really. I can't use "traveling for work" as a reason because I've been home since my return from the NBA All-Star Weekend in February. And for whatever reason...here we are, surrounded by a ton of sports headlines and I've been M.I.A.

Hmmm, let's see. March Madness is here and I haven't blogged about it once. Manny finally signed with the Dodgers and I'm too burnt out on the subject to give you my insight. LT signing with the Chargers made me feel some enthusiasm but oddly enough it wasn't enough to boil over into my blog. Even today, Lance Armstrong goes for a tumble and breaks his collar bone and I've got nothing to say except, "ouch!"

For this my friends, I do apologize.

With all due respect, I am not saying that I am tired of sports. That's actually NOT the case AT ALL. I think the truth of the matter is, I've had too many non-sports related things going on in my life and it's causing somewhat of an anxiety/stressed/depressed feeling in my mind. No requests for pity here; I'm just trying to get you to see where I'm coming from. Ok, now I'm rambling. I will tell you though that the one semi-sports related topic that has been on my mind for the last several weeks is this. My thoughts and deepest prayers are still with the families of Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith, and William Bleakley who never returned home to their families after a day out to sea. This story was one that broke my heart.

*sigh*~ With that said, today I've decided to talk about something other than sports for a slight change. It's something that I happen to love (and I'm sure I can speak for most gals out there).

PURSES!

Yup, that's right PURSES. For you guys that want to stop reading...fine. But you might want to understand a thing or two about why girls have a passion for purses.

So, any fashion-minded girl who looks to enhance her style can always turn to a cute purse. You see, it's a statement. A way to tell someone: look what I've got on my arm and yes, it belongs to me. It's no secret girls carry a number of different things everywhere they go. Some common finds in my own purse would be:

• wallet
• makeup bag
• sunglasses case
• iphone
• keys
• ipod (sometimes)
• a pen
• gum/candy

Right there you can see the need for a purse, right? So, if a girl has to carry her essentials anywhere and everywhere, why not make it as stylish as possible? Now, you may wonder why some girls want to carry more pricey bags than others? It's simple. Look at it like this...it's like a car. Some people drive a Honda and some people drive a BMW, it's a preference just like a purse. The other awesome thing about a cute purse is that you can use it with more than one outfit. It can even make a so-so outfit look like so much more! To prove my point, check out these comparisons:

So guys, the next time you think a purse is a waste of money...think again! It's one of the best accessories a girl can have. And ladies, one sidenote: it's ok to want different wallets to coordinate with different purses. Just don't forget to grab your ID when you are switching them out. :)

Love,
Peace,
& Handbags,
-c