All over TV, magazines and music blogs I am reading about tonight’s Grammy awards. Quite honestly I do not know who half the people are. I admit that I could be behind the times. I thought I was with the times. I mean I love U2, Peal Jam, Snow Patrol, Cold Play, Green Day, and Damien Rice.  These are all people played on modern radio stations. No, I am not into rap, hip-hop and pop. It is against my religion to listen to tween music aka roller rink pop. It just seems that the music industry is paying attention to who can show the most breast, wear the tightest clothing or the most outrageous and we have lost something really important….the music and it is got me thinking…

 The year was 1970 and there I sit glued to the couch watching the old Zenith with jiffy pop on one side of me and Dr. Pepper on the other side. I scream and yell as I watch Crosby Stills and Nash get best new artist of the year. I jump for joy when Blood Sweat and Tears receives album of the year. Joni Mitchell grabs best folk artist and best vocal performance by a group is the Fifth Dimension for Aquarius and Let the Sunshine In.

 There she stands in her glory—Aretha Franklin. She’s taller than life and she wraps her hands around that golden award. The  Isley Brothers  takes an award for R&B and Tammy  Wynette and Johnny Cash get their Grammy for best country.

 Once upon a time the Grammy Awards used to be about real artists doing real music. These music master minds could careless what they wore or how much breast or leg to show, or how much Botox they could inject.  Do you think David Crosby could have cared? What about Joni Mitchell? She was about music not the facade. She was a songwriter and a guitar player. She did not have to show off her legs or breast to say she could sing.

 Johnny Cash was pure country. He was what country was all about. He was not discovered on American idol or was boosted by how many teen agers downloaded his hits off I-tunes. He was unadulterated in his style. He did not have to impress tons of young teeny boppers. He stood tall and you either liked him or didn’t and I doubt he could have cared less either way.

 Yes back then music meant something and so did the Award Shows. Today it doesn’t seem to be the case. Many of the artists are whining about not being recognized. They are screaming out that there certain genera’s of music not being included. That’s not true!There are twice as many categories as there used to be. Hip-Hop, rap, alternative, urban alternative, dance, good grief every time there is a new artist there seems to be a new category.  I think we need awards these days for most the most “whinny and obnoxious artists.”  I suppose Kanye West would get that award hands down.

 I do not plan to watch the awards tonight. Perhaps I will read a book, or work on the computer, or even visit a few friends and talk about the good old days and music. Like the Grammy’s of 1990 when Bonnie Raitt took several awards for her Albums both in pop, rock and blues and legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan got awarded for just great musicianship.  Maybe when the Grammy’s start to grow up, grown ups will watch again, until then the award goes to…

Okay okay I admit it. I do the social networking thing. I facebook, myspace, twitter, link-in and every other means of social networking I can. I work part time as a freelance writer for a variety of online health magazines and using these forms of networking is a good business practice, plus I admit it is fun.  Some of these social networks are good for people to join and catch up with old high school buddies, share music and pictures, find a date, escape loneliness and learn socialization skills by means of online mini blogging. Though it is difficult to have conversation with people who only speak mini blogging language, it got me thinking…

 How the heck did we socialize before facebook and twitter? My God, it must have been a horrible way to live our lives. Can you imagine that a person would have to actual pick up a phone or even worse pick up a pen and write a letter? Now I admit, I have not written a letter by hand in years and years. Let’s face it e-mail has made it easier.

 Still, what the heck did we do before we had social networking? As a kid we belonged to a variety of social clubs. Some were mandatory like the church ones that my parents dragged me to. And though I hated it, so did half the other kids that got dragged to church social hour against their will. We all had something in common and we were able to socialize and talk about how much we hated church and our families for forcing us to believe in something that we didn’t!

 Then there were the scouting programs. Dare say I was kicked out of Campfire and Girl Scouts so that did not work for me, but I was able to socialize with all the other girls that got kicked out too and we had a common bond. As a kid I lived on a ranch and we had a baseball field. Everyone was invited after school to play baseball and even kids I never met soon became friends.

 As a young adult, pre-computer, I did things like go out and meet people. I played in a band and had a great outlet to meet people. I went to events and social networking and met people. I was smart enough to grab phone numbers. Of course I did not have my trusty Blackberry. I had to actually write down someone’s number, but that’s okay I still knew how to use a pen and paper back then.

 There was also the telephone. You know it was a thing that actually connected to the wall and you had to really sit and focus on your friendship. You could not call a friend while driving to the store, or grocery shopping, or text while in a movie. Nope you had to sit still and really concentrate on your friendship and really care that you talked to them. Friends were not excess baggage that you took along with you via phone as you ran your errands.

 I still do the original social networking. You know actually talk to someone and be focused, not running and errand or texting. Though I admit there are times when I do have to talk to someone while I am out and about, or I text little “I love yous” to my spouse.

 I suppose it would be nice to have a balance, but so many of us humans do not do balance. Take a tad of this, blend it with a bit of that, take the new with the old and create some balance. I suppose more people would be balanced if balance had a page on facebook or myspace.

I was at a drug store the other day picking something up. I had noticed that the line to get prescriptions was long and people were coughing and not feeling so well. I then went to the front register to check out. The man in front of me purchased a generic pack of cigarettes for 7.38. He said wow that’s expensive, yelled at the cashier for having expensive cigarettes and walked out. Later that day someone sent me an e-mail and it said; why is it that people who are sick have to go to the back of a drug store to get their medication and people who are healthy can get their cigarettes at the front of the store and it got me thinking…

 I used to be a smoker. I quit almost four years ago.  When I first started smoking, a pack of cigarettes were about forty-five cents. I was not a heavy smoker at the time so I could smoke for about 2 bucks a week. It clearly was an affordable way to mask my emotions and blow nasty smoke in people’s face and expose them to second hand smoke. Why not, I am a smoker and I have the right to do what I want!

 As a young smoker I had no fears about health. Come on let’s look at some of the old smoking commercials. Back in the 50’s who knew that cigarette smoking was so good for you? It’s a wonder the entire US doesn’t smoke. Why they were so good for you that cigarette manufactures were some of the first industries to use TV to advertize so widely.

 Don’t kid yourself either. Everyone got on the band wagon to get us to smoke.  One of the most convincing reasons we needed to smoke was the fact the most doctors recommended Camel cigarettes.  But what do doctors know? Fred and Barney of  The Flinstones knew Winston taste good like a cigarette should and used their influence of cartoons to get people to enjoy that nice smooth taste of a good smoke.  The Beatles even got on the bandwagon so to speak advertizing for Marlboro.

 Still need more convincing that smoking is actually good for you?  Well Chesterfield cigarettes are just down right good for you and they have studies to back that fact up!  In fact cigarettes were so healthy for you back then that you could walk a mile for a Camel and not even be out of breath!

 I am unsure what happened between then and now. The once healthy habit that calmed us, tasted nice and fresh, made us glamorous and had doctors telling us how good smoking was is a thing of the past. The Marlboro man is dead, doctors now recommend that you do not smoke and smokers are dropping dead like flies and they cost too much.

I still want a cigarette and quite honestly quitting sucked and once in a while I still chase the smell of a Camel when walking down the street but I am glad I do not have to pay over 7 bucks for a pack to support my habit and stuff my emotions.  I suppose if we still had these snazzy old ads, maybe I would not have quit. What I know is there were great slogans to get us to pick up that smoke, and I miss the old ads.