Women's Star Lieberman Wants to Play Obama

Taking exception to all-male White House basketball games, Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman today challenged President Obama to some one-on-one. “To score some real points with the public, stop arguing and just play ball—with the best,” Lieberman, 51 and coming off a stint last year in the WNBA writes. “Shoot some hoops with yours truly.”

Spice Girls Will Help Kick Off 2012 Olympics

When the eyes of the world turn to London for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics, the land of Shakespeare and the Beatles will present ... the Spice Girls. "They stand for so much in British music history and I can’t think of a better time for them to get back together for another performance," says impresario Simon Fuller. The performance may accompany a farewell tour, he tells the Daily Mirror: "I think if they do it, it’s going to be in 2012."

Refreshed

Written by: Rev. Renae Benenson, a.k.a. Serena Cliff

I have been on a sabbatical from work and writing. The sabbatical from work was necessary because I moved from the Midwest (Illinois) to the Northwest (Washington). I stopped writing temporarily so that I could leave home (again) only to return home to FaithWalk with something fresh and new to say.

I have left home six times. The longest I have stayed gone is 4 years. Leaving home is like an adventure for me. I like having the option of taking an “adventure” from time to time. It is a gift that keeps me hungry for life, vibrant and balanced. Whenever I go off on one of my many adventures, I usually return home, eventually, with interesting stories to tell. People acknowledge how much I have grown. I acknowledge how much I have missed them and how they have grown too.

I left home this sixth time to reunite with my husband. He left for Washington without me. It was not what he wanted to do but what I needed to do. I delayed relocating with my husband (for two years) so I could realize a career opportunity. I found a job in Illinois that was just right for me, and six months later I was offered a promotion. I took the opportunity, despite the emotional affects on my husband, and I developed leadership skills and personal power that I had never known. Though I had amassed this personal power, feelings for my husband didn’t dissipate. They grew. The distance helped me to see not only my personal power but his too. After we got through the initial pain of our separation, we also discovered, with the help of friends, that we both valued flexibility and unconditional love. And we wanted the other to have flexibility and self love no matter what the cost. I’m glad I delayed my leaving because I expanded my world view and sense of self. I also learned to assert my personal power and to embrace the knowledge of the “equality of opportunity”.

Love comes hard when done alone. However, when couples collectively and responsibly decide to grow their relationship, love happens. Our relationship was tested. What we learned throughout the adventure is that we shared something special. It was that specialness that would get us through the worst of times. I pondered this same stream of consciousness again when I resigned my position to move to the Northwest. I relied on my personal power and understanding of “to thine own self be true” when I told my sons, my siblings, my granddaughter, my friends, co-workers and church members that I would be leaving. Many anticipated, suspected and acknowledged news of my eventual move. Still it caused them and me some emotional distress.

If leaving causes so much pain, why leave? Well an adventure for me is both exciting and anxiety producing. It hurts like hell and yet it stirs up my senses and my child-like wonder. It begs the question, -now what?! The universe responds with an invitation - live each day fully. Convinced by my faith and beliefs, I risk leaving, loving and letting go of home; I know God can and will do a new thing with me- if I’m flexible. He will also do the same thing for those I love and left- if they’re flexible.

Once you recognize love and you embrace self love, you cannot go back. Love is powerful. Self love is freeing – it allows you to be true to yourself. It also means being true to what you hold dear. Love is one of those values I hold dear – for myself and for others. My children, siblings, friends, granddaughter and church community miss me and I miss them. My loving response to them is: I’m a plane ride, a phone call, a text message and an e-mail away; I believe that neither death nor life-neither an address change nor miles can separate us. More still, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” [1 Cor. 13:7].

My son and I talk about love all the time. Though the picture of love may appear bleak in the circles he travels, he still believes in love’s promise. He hopes for a good woman who knows how to value herself rightly. While he waits for her, he is deepening his faith in God, assessing who he is, discerning his values and smoothing out his rough edges. He is learning more about love –for self and others too.

bell hooks, a well known cultural critic, feminist theorist and a favorite author wrote this in her book, All about love, “Everyone wants to know more about love. We want to know what it means to love, what we can do in our everyday lives to love and to be loved. We want to know how to seduce those among us who remain wedded to lovelessness and open to the door to their hearts to let love enter.” She also maintains in another book, Salvation, “To choose love, we must choose a healthy model of female agency and self actualization, one rooted in the understanding that when we love ourselves well (not in a selfish or narcissistic way), we are best able to love others. When we have healthy self-love, we know that individuals in our lives who demand of us self-destructive martyrdom do not care for our good, for our spiritual growth.”

I care about my growth…spiritual, emotional, financial and physical. I’m happy that my husband cares about my growth as well as his own growth. I care about the growth of women and men. I care intensely about the growth of youth – our children, my children, their children and their children’s children. I want all people to be self actualized. It takes collective responsibility, equality of opportunity, love, courage and other values to get us there. It also takes faith and trust.

I believe loving and leaving are both acts of faith. These acts certainly do not come without struggle. No it is not easy to let go of what is familiar and safe. Yes, I miss those places where I’m known and loved. No, I’m not known here in the Northwest yet. However courage and perseverance says I will be. Therefore, I embrace the change; I enjoy the adventure; I take advantage of every opportunity; I build new loving relationships with those around me and keep sending love to those I’ve left behind; I preserve the love between my husband and me; I help out where I can; and I love and replenish myself daily, doing creative and heart healthy things. Last but not least, I also pray and live out my values rightly knowing that the journey “from your kindred and your country” is a sacrifice and a powerful act of faith! [Leaving Home: Herbert Anderson and Kenneth R. Mitchell]

Wishing for your happiness, peace and excellence without reservation…..Renae

Rev. Renae Benenson, a.k.a. Serena Cliff is a minister, professional chaplain and writer. If you would like to comment on her work, you can contact her at rbenenson80@gmail.com

The Most Influential DJs

With the release of "DJ Hero" upon us, it's a good time to honor the true masters of turntablism. IGN lists the most influential:

DJ Kool Herc. He invented the “breakbeat” by using the two-turntable style of disco DJs to play two copies of a funk record, switching between the two to elongate the instrumental break section.
Afrika Bambaataa. He took Herc’s breakbeats further and coined the burgeoning musical movement “hip-hop.”
Grandmaster Flash. Flash pioneered the “cutting” technique, which later became refined into scratching. He released the first record with scratching on it, and his Furious Five group was the first hip-hop band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Grand Wizard Theodore. Building on Flash’s “cutting” technique, Theodore added his own style of rhythmically manipulating the fader to give scratching its percussive effect—essentially, turning the turntable into a drum.
Jam-Master Jay. As the DJ for Run-DMC, Jay’s signature sounds helped push hip-hop into the mainstream.
DJ Qbert. A later addition to DJing’s luminaries, Qbert has pioneered countless scratch and turntable tricks to become known as the Jimi Hendrix of turntablism. Check out his skills in the video at left.

Inside Gaga's 'Delicious' Tour

Lady Gaga's upcoming tour is more than just a series of concerts—it's a pop-electro opera, "a truly artistic experience that is going to take the form of the greatest post-apocalyptic house party that you've ever been to," she tells Rolling Stone. The Monster Ball launches Nov. 27, four days after the release of The Fame Monster, an album she says is "much more personal" than her last.

"Each one of these songs on my album represents a different demon that I've faced in myself," she says. And, contrary to the name, "I don't write about fame or money at all on this new record." Those demons—or monsters—are "certainly going to be an influence" on the show's fashion, "as well as the theme of evolution and change," she says. "I wanted to really put together a show that would be the most beautiful, expensive-looking, delicious show."

Ann Taylor Finally Gets Good

After a game of fashion musical chairs brought Ann Taylor a new designer, Cintra Wilson decided it was time to reexamine the label—long a "corporate office submissive" look designed to "attract a nice tax attorney husband." She ate her words after checking out the new line (and buying a $175 gray silk-cashmere sweater she'll wear "every second until it dissolves into lint"). The line brings "less clutter and better details," from "the finished seams inside a little faille opera jacket" to "the velvet ribbon inside the waist of a peplum coat," Wilson writes in the New York Times.

The new Ann Taylor strategy comes down to "the honest injection of real quality bang for the buck," she continues, having been pleasantly surprised at finding a Lanvin lookalike silk shell for $70 and a Balenciaga-inspired skirt for $80. Her conclusion: "Ann Taylor’s office-wear may still be 98.9% edge-free, but it is concentrating on the right values: timeless lines and longevity. Other chains would be wise to follow in the plucky working girl’s conservative (yet spike-heeled) footsteps."

Aussie Sailor, 16, Starts World Trip

A 16-year-old Australian steered her bright pink yacht out of Sydney Harbor under gray skies and slightly choppy conditions today to start her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world. Jessica Watson's 23,600-mile journey through some of the world's most treacherous waters sparked debate about whether someone so young should be allowed to try such a dangerous feat.

Watson and her family insist she is an experienced sailor who will be in constant contact with her support team via radio, email, and a blog. Watson's first leg will take her past northern New Zealand, then Fiji and Samoa. In a trip expected to last about eight months, she plans to pass the southern tips of Africa and South America. Briton Mike Perham, 17, in August laid claim to being the youngest solo round-the-world sailor after completing a 28,000-mile trip in nine months, though he stopped for repairs, which counts as an "assisted" trip.