Podcasting

Today, everybody is podcasting. But in 2004, it was a beginning phenomenon and my first experience with the term! 

My daughter, Karmyn, had recorded an album, and we premiered it at the historic Texarkana  Perot Theater in November!  I was looking for outlets to promote it and stumbled on the early podcast of Adam Curry, the PodFather, as they called him! I didn't know about having the right to play music, so I submitted the song Summertime from the album! As I listened to his show, he played her song and, at the conclusion, said, "Who is this girl?"  Well, I was elated. 

Karmyn was walking down the hall and heard his voice and said, "That's Adam Curry!"  I said, "How do you know him!"  She told me he was a VJ on MTV.  I didn't know what a VJ was but more interested in her knowing about MTV because it was off-limits to watch in our household!  The show played wild rock music that I didn't allow her to listen to!  Wow! What kids do when they are away from you. LOL. I had been hearing his podcast for several weeks, so when I found out who he was, I thought, "He is a nice guy, so it is okay!"

When I discovered that he really shouldn't have played her song because it was a cover tune, I thought, "Oops." Podcasts could only play original music!  Something to do with royalties, I found out! We became friends, and he encouraged me to have Karmyn write her own music and thus was born the song Drifting!   

https://www.amazon.com/Drifting-Karmyn-Tyler/dp/B073DH2837

When Karmyn was living in L.A., they held a podcasting convention in Ontario, California. We attended and I met a lot of the podcasters who were podcasting at that time. Karmyn has maintained her friendship with Adam and is a faithful listener to his podcast, No Agenda. 

Childhood Memories

It's funny how we are creatures of habit from our moms!  My mother always changed linens and did laundry on Mondays, so what did I do today? Yep, changed linens, and did laundry!

Thank goodness I have an automatic washer and dryer!  She had a Maytag wringer washer and we hung the clothes to dry! 

Copyright ©2020 Suzie Tyler

Big Brother is Watching You

According to Judge Andrew Napolitano, the FBI does not have to get search warrants looking for national security matters because of an executive order by Ronald Reagan 13222 and because of the language in the USA Freedom Act, the successor to the FISA law, NSA now can capture in real-time the digital copies of everybody's phone calls cell and landline, everybody's keystrokes, mobile device and all digital information going over fiber-optics into the US or out of the US. NSA works for the President! He can order a transcribed copy of that!

Hello, Big Brother!
Now, don't you be gossiping about me!

My 'Extra' Experience

I have always been a 'behind the scenes' person. I did not want to be out front in anything, even when I played the piano. I was a "fade into the background" person. When Karmyn got in to the entertainment business as an actress and singer, I wanted to learn everything I could about the industry so I could promote her. I even worked for her agent in Dallas at different times and learned a lot about the talent agency process. Thank you, Ivett Stone, for showing me the ropes!

After Karmyn moved to LA, I stayed friends with a lot of the industry people in Dallas and one casting director friend called me about being an extra in a new pilot Jerry Bruckheimer was filming in Dallas. She said, "This will be one you would love to see being filmed and being an extra, you can see it up close and personal and get paid. Sounded good to me.

A few years before, I would have said no. I remember the first time Karmyn was on the set of Walker, Texas Ranger, I went with her. I was hanging out in the holding room with all the extras while Karmyn was on set and the casting director came in and said, "Would you let us use your car in a scene? We will pay you." Well, I had visions of Dukes of Hazzard car scenes and Odis had just bought me a new car. I said, "No, if my car gets a scratch on it, my husband will kill me." She promised that would not happen and asked me three additional times, but I kept saying no. I also didn't want to be an extra because cameras have a tendency to make you look larger than you are and I was already fatter than I wanted to be and sure didn't want my bod plastered on some TV screen. As I learned more about the business, I found out, you do not see extras. They usually are blurred and you never know who they are. So now, with that knowledge, I told my friend, "Sure."

I got up early that morning and drove to Dallas for an early morning call time. We did the scene in the West End. I was a vendor and when they discovered there was a bomb in the marketplace; they rushed all of us out. Jesse Metcalfe, a cutie patooty, was a star for the pilot. They placed me in a scene where he had to move me along to get me out of danger and he said, "Mam, you must hurry," and touched my arm to help me go faster. There were 3 or 4 young girls who had oohed and ahhed over him and said, "No fair. Why do you get to be the one he touches?" I laughed and said, "Old age has its perks." The director knew I would stay "in character," an industry term I had learned, and not have a meltdown being close to him.

After they finished filming the scene came the big blow-up. Jerry Bruckheimer paid 4 of us extras 3 hours overtime so we could watch the pyrotechnics of blowing up the scene. It was amazing. It looked like they blew it to smithereens, but when the smoke cleared, it had thrown only a few apples and oranges on the dirt floor. In my next life, I want to be on the crew for these kinds of movies. It was fun and the experience of a lifetime. That is the extent of my short-lived movie career, and now you know the rest of the story! lol

Copyright ©2020 Suzie Tyler

#Blow-up #JerryBruckheimer #WestEnd #Dallas

The Age Old Question!!

SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE, Is It Right?

I just talked with a young single girl in her twenties. She started dating at sixteen and would like to have a committed dating Christian relationship. She said guys don't want that. They just want to jump in bed with you. I told her that a young man who only wants that doesn't respect her or God's Word. My mother always said, why would you buy the cow when you can get the milk free. There is a lot of truth in that statement!

I pointed out also that he would distrust her for the duration of the relationship because he would think if she did it with him, she would do it with someone else and there would always be a trust issue.

It's an old cliche but, if he loves you, he will wait until marriage.

AGAINST ALL ODDS We Found The Perfect Love Book to the Publisher

Well, I feel like I have birthed a 5-year baby.  Not sure how to feel.

Because of the coronavirus, the publisher I engaged in 2019, went under because of the Pandemic.  It was discouraging at first but I felt like I had a story to tell and kept plugging.  

I have completed the first book which is a 13-hour read. Included will be pictures and detailed stories of our 7-month reconnection that resulted in a second proposal with a storybook wedding and honeymoon. I will take a few weeks off and finish the second book, Perfect Love Beat The Odds.

In the meantime, I wrote what I call a Cliff Notes for the book and published it on Amazon.com. It will give you a birdseye view of the novel to come in August. It will be a quick read of the journey of our meeting, separation, and reconnection fifteen years later when we were 450 miles apart.

The name of it is My Love Story In A Nutshell and available as an ebook for 1.75 and a printed version is 4.00. 

www.amazon.com/

You Gotta Watch Old People

Watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the world to think of crazy things to say....................

Yesterday I was at my local COSTCO buying a gigantic bag of Purina dog chow for my loyal pet, Jake, the Wonder Dog and was in the check-out line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had an elephant? So since I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog; I was starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn't, because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her it was essentially a Perfect Diet and how it works is, to load your pants pockets with Purina Nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete, so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no; I stepped off a curb to sniff a poodle's a$$ and a car hit me.

I thought the guy behind her would have a heart attack he was laughing so hard.

Costco won't let me shop there anymore.

Karmyn's acting class at age 5

I grew up watching a lot of musical movies and loved The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews. When we moved to Texarkana, there were more ‘artsy’ opportunities, and I tried to give Karmyn a broad education of the arts. At 5 years old, I enrolled her in an acting workshop at Texas High with Mr. Al Pasley for the summer. No other 5-year-old signed up, so they put her in the older class. This introduced her to acting, and she loved it. They did a little play with costumes and music on the last night of the workshop for the parents to watch. Karmyn's character was a brown bear. 

From that night on she wanted to be on a stage. Our fireplace became her stage, and a Dr. Pepper bottle was her microphone to perform. Her dream was born at 5 years old to be on Broadway before she even knew what it was. For her mom, I cringed because the first rock musical Hair hit the New York stage in 1968 and featured a much-talked-about scene at the end of the first act in which the cast appeared totally nude on the dimly lit stage. Not what you want your child to be involved in but thank goodness Community Theatre was a little milder.

 

Fortunately, by the time she was 13 years old, the Phantom of the Opera was a Broadway musical hit and her first NYC Broadway experience. It just fed her passion for being on a stage.

WWJD

In His Steps. If I remember correctly, that book birthed the WWJD idea.  The novel portrays a group of businessmen in a town who asked in all their decisions the question: What would Jesus do in this situation?  I've thought about and wondered how that would work out in today's setting with the government intervention in our daily activities. 

Our world has changed from the Fifties!  Some for good, some for bad! The invention of the internet, iPhones, and WiFi has changed our society.  Krushchev said he would destroy us without firing a shot because of our rights!  Sometimes I think he was right! 

We must live the best we can, make moral decisions, and don't deceive ourselves about what is bad but ask for forgiveness when we sin.

Only God knows our heart and the Holy Spirit will convict. Jesus earned the right to forgive us for our sins and is the best role model. 

Death has no favorites, grief no map

It is very, very difficult giving up a child, a spouse, parent, or sibling!  I still have days that my heart aches for the love of my life and others are in the same spot!

God gives us the strength but sometimes you just want to feel their arms around you and hear them say “I Love You.”  In death, you face the harsh reality and know that it is not possible. 

Each person deals with grief differently and there is no right or wrong way to do it!  There is no map! It is individual!

We all wish at times we could go back to our teenage years or that is if you had wonderful teenage years! But we know it’s not possible! I would be in serious trouble if I couldn’t separate reality from fantasy and know I can’t go back.

There is no Delorean time machine!  

That’s only in the movies!

May 19 1973

Today, 47 years ago, I reconnected with the love of my life!
On May 19, 1973, I met Odis Tyler in Texarkana for dinner, and we reminisced our dating fifteen years before. It was a day that changed my future, and I was never the same after that night!
The weather was a lot like now, cold. He had to take off his jacket and put around me when we visited Lake Texarkana that evening.
I will never forget May 19, 1973!!

I always told him they threw the mold away after he was born! I thank God everyday for him! I only hope someday both my girls find one half as good!

Forgiveness VS Reconcilliation

Some may have heard my story and experience watching the movie "Overcomer."

When I began writing my life story, I had pushed a lot of the hurtful memories of my first marriage to the back of my memory. When Odis came in my life, he wanted me to never be hurt again. His one goal in life was to love me so much, I would forget the hurts.  He succeeded, and I never remembered them again until writing my book. I thought I had forgiven those who had hurt and wounded me, but recalling them, brought anger I didn't realize lived inside of me. Every time, I wrote about an incident and then again when I was editing, hatred would rise up inside me. I would think, how dare he to have done that to me or how could she have treated me with such disrespect and no regard for my marriage, as frail as it was. All the people involved had already passed on, so my anger was only hurting me! I couldn't even scream at them and tell them off.

The movie, Overcomer, changed my life. I cried through most of the film, and in one of the scenes, there was a spirit of forgiveness that came over me, and I forgave them and anyone else in my life that had wronged me, whether or not they had asked for forgiveness. I can't explain it, because it was a God-thing. When He does it, He does it right.  It has been almost a year, and even now, when I have to talk about those events or reread them, there is no anger. 

I don't know who may need this story, or maybe it's just for me to write it down and remember what God did for me, but I knew I had to blog it.

When Odis and I dated in 1973, I was having a tough time forgiving people for their part in wounding me, and he told me that "Forgiveness is not condoning." and reminded me, "When you forgive others, Suzie, forgive yourself."  I think part of my healing process that day was forgiving myself for allowing the woundings to happen. 

I used to say; I forgive my ex-husband, but I don't want to live next door to him. That would be a reminder of the hurt.

Most people say I forgive you, but I won't forget it. When friends or family continue hurting you, you don't want to keep putting yourself in a position to be hurt over and over. We are instructed to forgive many times, but we don't have to continue placing ourselves in a position to continue being hurt. In marriage conflicts, that's what divorce courts are for. You can divorce the person but not your emotions as quickly. It's even tougher if they are family members.

I do not connect forgiveness to reconciliation. That ball is in your court decision to reconcile with the person. Sometimes the one doing the wounding has not changed their behavior, and even though they ask for forgiveness, you know they would do it again if you gave them a chance. It is best to forgive them in your heart and move on.

Be blessed.

I was accused of being a smart a$$ woman

God gave me a brain and my mother taught me how to use it!

I may be an artificial blonde but I'm not dumb. I was recently called a smart a$$ woman because I refused to be talked down to! I'm not offended. I'm proud to be a smart-ass `20s woman, a pretty female, and a classy lady.

I am not part of the women's lib movement.  I love a man who will open the door for me and protect me with love and TLC. But I also don't want anyone, man or woman, treating me like I'm inferior to them.  We are all equal in the sight of God. Yes, there are some things women may be limited to doing physically, and, I accept that. God made men and women different. That does not mean we will accept being talked to rudely or disrespectfully. The man who called me a smart ass woman didn't know how correct he was. I am and I'm proud to be one!

BTW, I didn't know him. He was a random person who had friended me but he defriended me and that was probably the wisest decision he has made in his life!
©2020