Tag: Writing

Opening Lyrics To Songs That I Love

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#8: Marvin Gaye, You Sure Love to Ball

Oh, baby, please turn yourself around/
Oh, baby, so I can love you good/
Oh, baby, I’ll make you feel so good/
Aw, sugar, just like you want me to/

Marvin Gaye: You Sure Love to Ball. YouTube

This will probably be my favorite segment on my blog in a very long time! Welcome to Opening Lyrics to Songs That I Love!

“You Sure Love to Ball” is a song released by Marvin Gaye on January 2, 1974. It was the third and final single released from his album “Let’s Get It On”.

The song was issued as a single on January 2, 1974. Initial radio airplay was good enough for the song to peak at 13 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4] However, “You Sure Love to Ball” soon peaked out allegedly due to the controversial nature of the track, making the song the least successful of the three tracks released on Let’s Get It On. Its b-side included the solemn ballad closer of the album, “Just to Keep You Satisfied”. –Wikipedia

I find it hard to believe this song couldn’t reach the top ten of any musical chart-topping list. Sure, the lyrics are sensual and overwhelmingly sexy, but this is Marvin Gaye. People were used to his overuse of sexually-charged songs.

Not only that, the melody is catchy and the chorus is unforgettable. If I want to take it further, I’d say even the instrumental is worth listening to repeatedly.

And if I’m willing to listen to an instrumental over and over again, that tells you a lot about the actual song.

Marvin was strategic in developing and crafting his lyrics and took his presentation of them seriously. He played up shows and wooed the panties off women faster than a bullet train. The man was a gift to creating music for baby-making.

Don’t believe me? Listen to this song. The opening lyrics are enough to reel you in. The rest of the song will keep you in its grip.

For the next two Sundays, I’ll share with you my favorite opening lyrics to songs I truly love. Maybe you’ll enjoy it. Maybe you won’t. Perhaps you’ll share your favorite opening lyrics to songs you love as well. Perhaps you won’t. Either way, we’re going to have a good damn time.

See you next week!

Mandy Patinkin Has a Powerful Message|Hope Still Lives

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And it nearly crushed my heart, but I’m glad he said it; I’m just saddened that he had to.

Mandy Patinkin’s Urgent Message to Jews Worldwide

Patinkin grew up in an upper-middle-class family, descended from Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland, and was raised in Conservative Judaism, attending religious school daily from the age of seven to 13 or 14 and singing in synagogue choirs, as well as attending the Camp Sura in Michigan.

Fine Art America/Images

hope still lives, or at least, I think it does

many of us don’t
really have a heyday
to refer to–shouldn’t
we all–isn’t that
some sort of
requirement to doing
life the way it should
be done?!

I could be
overthinking this as
I typically do with
all things, but in my
head, it makes sense
for this to make
sense.

I know I can’t be the
only one.
I hope I’m not the
only one.

but it wouldn’t be
the first time, and
that, somehow, is
oddly relieving.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

A Few Moments To Myself

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A break is needed

AI-Generated Image: A Black woman with locs sitting on her couch, reading a book. She is wearing a beige sweater, khaki pants, and the background is soft and mellow with a hint of sunlight breaking through her window. Created with Canva.

I am in production and continued training mode at work. That being said, my focus is on the grind and perfecting the roles I am transitioning through. I am also searching for a part-time WFH job due to the impending rent hike that’s just around the corner.

Needless to say, I need a break.

I want to enjoy all that I can during this coming week at my job, learn more, and devote my time to our patients. I also want to maintain a sense of self as I come to grips with the reality of going back to working two jobs.

I will return to this creative space with the Sunday features: Opening Lyrics To Songs That I Love and Sunday Microfiction next Sunday, August 10, 2025.

For now, please enjoy this groovy tune and a few posts from the past in my absence.

Let Me Grow

What If We Could Haiku the Pain Away?

The Beauty of Love and Creativity

Something To Think About #16

Peace and blessings.

back at it again & biometrics for 200, please, Alex!

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back at it again

hopped into the hot seat–outta
practice for four years, but
took to it like riding a bike
again.

I knew I’d get the hang of
it as soon as I put hands
to keyboard and head to
tasks.

I am a people person who
people’d more than I should
today, and I didn’t spazz out,
I didn’t lose myself in the
deluge of patients rushing in
around lunchtime.

I kept my cool,
breathed several deep
breaths, and turned on
the charm I am most known for.

I crushed it.

biometrics for 200, please, Alex!

cell phone
biometrics, I’ll never
understand it.

another way of
verifying who I am,
the owner of this
phone…

I’d like my
dactylogram to save
after I appointed it
the best method
to this new age
madness.

however, every time
I attempt to break
through the locked
screen, my own
phone doesn’t
recognize me.

I guess it’ll have to
be a pattern or a
pin number instead.
the digital world
wins again.

Oh, nothing… I’m just out here being creative in Substack notes again.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

It’s 10,000° Outside!

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The things we do for our pets

A short walk with The Little Monster today.

Honey Bunnies, I’m not one for the heat! I cannot stand it! I’d rather be relaxing in the air-conditioned spaces I frequent (i.e., my living room or bedroom), instead of taking Jernee Timid out for a walk when it’s Devil Weather!

This is NOT my calling. However, I do love my baby, and I’d do anything for her, but I’m going to need her to pick up the pace when it’s hotter than the corns on the Devil’s toes outside.

How are y’all surviving the heat this year?! Stay hydrated. Stay cool. Stay indoors as much as you can.

I am truly looking forward to the cool down headed our way!

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

A River Bath

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Melissa’s Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge

From Ryan Grewell on Unsplash. The image depicts a bear in a body of water with rocks and trees in the background. Most of the bear’s body is submerged. We see the bear’s head above the water, along with his right leg, which he appears to hold with his right arm. What is this bear doing?😅

I am your most esteemed Tour Guide and Developer of this beautiful place, Logan Tismouth. If you’ll direct your attention to Caper the Bear, who appears to be river bathing as we speak…

Logan extends his arm and points his hand in the direction of the bear. The crowd follows with their eyes.

Caper is a show-stopper. He is one of the happiest bears any of us has ever seen. He is our featured attraction here at River’s Ridge Sanctuary. We provide semi-natural-to-their-habitat homes for bears, mountain lions, deer, bobcats, etc. You name it, we’ve got it! But Caper is something special.

Three years ago, he was found slumped over the stump of a chopped-down tree, dehydrated with a gaping wound in his lower left leg. Daniel, our Lead Ranger, placed the call to me. He gave me the rundown of the bear’s status and informed me to send out two more rangers, a sack of tranquilizers, and a pack of bottled water. He estimated his time there would be four hours. I issued the work order and had all of the items disbursed, along with the requested rangers, too.

If we had not acted fast, Caper wouldn’t be here today. So you see, not only is he our featured attraction, but he is the only bear with a story like this to tell at River’s Ridge Sanctuary. And we believe he knows just how special he is. I have to say, I’ve never seen a vain bear, but Caper is one.

He has grown accustomed to looking at himself in a mirror. When I visit his dwelling space, I take a hand-held mirror along with me. His greeting is always with a light paw to my right shoulder, and a welcoming scoff as he blows a puff of air into the forest around us. I pull out the mirror, hold it up directly in front of him, and he muses about himself for several minutes.

Stunned by his mannerisms, I leave the mirror with him. He has a collection of them now. Several of the rangers and staff have coined another nickname for him, one of which I do not approve, “Logan’s Very Special Vain Bear.”

Luckily, it hasn’t caught on… yet.

I enjoyed crafting this fiction piece for this week’s challenge. Maybe it’s something you’re interested in, too? If so, mosey on over to Melissa’s blog to give this challenge a once-over. I am sure she’ll be happy to see you there