BABY BOOMER DIVAS GETTIN' JIGGY IN DAYTONA BEACH!

Are you over 40, female and loving your life?
Are you taking charge and moving in new directions?
Do you believe women are like wine - better with some age and maturity?
Are you a DIVINE BABY BOOMER DIVA?

If you are you need to read more about a sisterhood of other women DIVAS who believe like you, who are "on the move", who are making a difference and who have come together under the leadership of The Queen of Hearts of Boomer Divas, Ms. Beverly Mahone.

Visit The BOOMER DIVA NATION online or join in the festivities at their Girlfriends Weekend Getaway in Daytona Beach, Florida being held April 18th - 20th. Women from all professions and backgrounds are getting together, networking and sharing their power, bringing DIVA to the world with grace, elegance and style.

Read more on Judy Davids, The Rock Star Mommy! - Click BLOG at the top of the page. And be sure to peruse the rest of Judy's fun site - it's a must visit for any Rockin' DIVA!

Listen to Beverly talk about this great event:

I MAY BE A FLIP-FLOP SNOB - BUT I'M A THONG DIVA!

I have to admit I'm not one for fashion fads anymore - I've stated this before in a post where I wanted to go naked, but I have gotten into the new flip-flop trend with a vengeance.

When I was a kid, we called flip-flops thongs, but I am making a concerted effort to retrain myself to call them flip-flops. Tragic misunderstandings have ensued from my bad habit of calling flip-flops thongs, but I won't go there.

This new batch of flip-flops is far superior to those white trash versions I had as a kid. The original flip-flop was simply a rubber sole with a strap plugged through the soul and around your toes. Much like the ones pictured above in my Pop Art "Flip Flops Aren't Thongs?", except we didn't even get pretty flowers on the tops of the soles like the ones pictured here. (I got these cute thongs as a gift for a trip!)

Now you can get flip-flops with some great DIVA frills. I have some that have been treated to a knitting project using really fun fuzzy yarns and even torn fabrics that flutter around my toes. My favorite pair at the moment are a pair of metallic, hot pink flip-flops with a sexy little 1-1/2 inch spike heel. I also favor a pair of turquoise flip-flops that are silk with a similar kicky little heel. And I have a pair of black silk ones that go great with a black caftan I bought for my martini hour outside in this great Spring weather.

I will admit I am a bit of a flip-flop snob. When I'm doing an art show I watch to see how many of the white trash versions of flip flops are flapping on the ground - too many and I know I'm dealing with a Walmart poster crowd and I stick my nose back in my book. Cheap flip flop wearers are not big on buying original art! But if those flip flops are sporting some bling I'm in the money!

Whatever the economic version of flip-flops, one thing can be said for all - they are a great way to show off your new pedicure and they're the fastest shoe to kick off at the end of a long day! Now, that's DIVA!

Flip Flops Aren't Thongs? is available as archival prints and giclees on canvas in various sizes at PopArtDiva.com. Copyright 2008 by PopArtDiva.com. All rights reserved. No permission is given to copy, distribute or reproduce without written permission from PopArtDiva.com.

SOME JAZZY DIVA DISCO EARRINGS FOR PETUNIA

I finally had to break down and get a new (to me) van for my art shows. Now vans by their very nature are not DIVA! They are utilitarian vehicles that get you and your assorted passengers and cargo to a destination. They are not sexy but they are a necessary evil for an artist who has to transport a portable store to a new location each weekend.

My new (to me) van is a dark green Ford of "a certain age", much like me. Well, I'm not green but I do have a few miles on me. I have named her "Petunia".

Now, I have found that if you treat your cars with respect by giving them a name and petting them for a job well done they will respond much like most men. In other words, they will be reliable, comfortable, easier on the pocketbook and more inclined to be responsive. A little gift now and then is also beneficial.

So I gave Petunia a pair of earrings. They are small mirror covered replicas of disco balls that were in style in the 1970s. These are very DIVA car earrings - they sparkle and dance around as Petunia and I go down the road.

I think Petunia likes her new earrings. Petunia is now a DIVA car and I think Petunia gets better gas mileage since she's gone DIVA.

SPRING HAS ARRIVED - TIME FOR A MANI-PEDI!

The weather has warmed and Spring has arrived and now we get to wear all our cute, kicky little sandals and fancy flip-flops.

I was excited to pull out my summer clothes and my cute sandals until I looked at my feet. OMG! Chipped toenail polish, cracked and dry skin had hidden all winter under socks and boots and fuzzy slippers! Let's not even talk about how I managed to ignore my shaving and waxing schedule!

So out came my clipping, snipping, sanding and buffing tools, my special creams, lotions and potions that promise to make my feet pretty for the "Season of the Naked Foot".

Since I'm an artist who sculpts as well as paints a manicure is kind of a lost cause for me - no matter what I do my fingernails will forever be short and unpainted. Manicures are simply not an option for those who work with paint, water, solvents, chemicals and most art mediums. It's sort of a waste of money and time.

BUT, I can have painted toes and cute shoes to show them off. So I will be soaking, grinding, creaming, filing and french-manicuring my feet to DIVA perfection this whole next week. It will take that long to get the "winter" off of them!

I HAVE A HAT FOR EVERY MOOD

Thank God for Hats! I have a hat for every mood. I love hats. Probably because I hate getting haircuts. Besides, I look good in hats and putting on a hat takes a lot less time than futzing with my hair!

I have baseball caps, cowboy hats, straw hats, fedoras, sexy hats, vintage hats and goofy hats - hey, I even have a hat that makes me into the Statue of Liberty! I have a top hat and a matching top hat for Pixel, my Yorkiepoo, for New Years! I'm a hat freak - I think I have more hats than shoes!

Hats are a boon to DIVAS. Aside from protecting your face from the ravages of ultraviolet damage, a hat can define your look and proclaim your personality. They can make you glamorous, mysterious or mischievous. They can be as simple as a baseball cap borrowed from a boyfriend or as elaborate as a Las Vegas showgirl's headdress.

Every DIVA should have at least one special hat, if only to save them on a bad hair day!

I HAVE A HAT FOR EVERY MOOD is available in various sizes as archival prints and giclees on canvas at PopArtDiva.com. Copyright 2008 by PopArtDiva.com. All rights reserved. No permission is given to copy, distribute or reproduce without written permission from PopArtDiva.com.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH - Famous Women

I was researching famous women and it occurred to me that one of the most famous women is The Statue of Liberty. Yes, she's not a real woman but isn't it interesting that a it's a woman that stands at the entrance to our shores to welcome the "masses yearning to be free"?

It's also a woman who represents justice as Lady Justice or Blind Justice! Freedom and Justice. Yes, indeed. Proper descriptions for DIVAS, wouldn't you agree?

Throughout history women have made tremendous contributions to their countries, the world and their people. Women have written books that changed the world (Harriet Beecher Stowe), they have pioneered flight (Amelia Earhart), they have ruled countries and kings (Cleopatra) and they have saved countless lives (Florence Nightengale) and souls (Mother Teresa).

Some are famous, like those mentioned here, some not so well known. Read up on some of the women who have a claim to fame and be proud you are a woman:

A Timeline of Famous Women

Distinguised Women of Past and Present

National Women's Hall of Fame

LADY LIBERTY is available in various sizes as archival prints and giclees on canvas at PopArtDiva.com. Post images Copyright 2008 by PopArtDiva.com. All rights reserved. No permission is given to copy, distribute or reproduce without written permission from PopArtDiva.com.

POP ART DIVA GOES BLOND!?

I always wondered what I'd look like as a blond and I got a chance to find out!!!

My fellow Diva Boomer, Bev Mahone, has a link on her site that allows you to do a do a FREE MAKE-OVER!

I was curious so I tried it out and this was the result. I'm not bad as a blond, huh? I might just have to get a blond wig!

I think I could pull off being a blond. What do you think?

SOME NEWS! I have always wanted a venue to air my grievances, so I have created a new blog, The BRAT in the HAT, where I will be posting frequent rants, pet peeves and blogging about things that really bug me. But in keeping with my new philosophy of positive thinking I will end each rant in a positive tone with On The Upside comments!

Stop by and share some of your pet peeves with me!

SOME QUOTES FROM NOTABLE WOMEN

"A lady should not tattle.....unless she gets a book deal" is part of my Fabulous Fifties Females series and is available as archival prints and giclees on canvas at my website. Post images Copyright 2008 by PopArtDiva.com. All rights reserved. No permission is given to copy, distribute or reproduce without written permission from PopArtDiva.com.

NEVER EAT MORE THAN YOU CAN LIFT - MISS PIGGY

WHEN WOMEN ARE DEPRESSED THEY EITHER EAT OR GO SHOPPING. MEN INVADE ANOTHER COUNTRY - MARIE CORELLI

WHEN CHOOSING BETWEEN TWO EVILS, I ALWAYS LIKE TO TRY ONE I'VE NEVER TRIED BEFORE - MAE WEST

EVERY ONE'S ENTITLED TO MY OPINION - MADONNA

I'VE BEEN ON A CALENDAR, BUT I'VE NEVER BEEN ON TIME. - MARILYN MONROE

THE TROUBLE WITH BEING IN THE RAT RACE IS THAT EVEN IF YOU WIN...YOU'RE STILL A RAT - LILY TOMLIN

HOUSE WORK CAN'T KILL YOU, BUT WHY TAKE A CHANCE - PHYLIS DILLER

I'M NOT GOING TO VACUUM UNTIL SEARS MAKES ONE YOU CAN RIDE ON - ROSEANNE BARR

I AM A MARVELOUS HOUSEKEEPER. EVERY TIME I LEAVE A MAN I KEEP HIS HOUSE - ZSA ZSA GABOR

THE PROBLEM WITH WOMEN IS THAT THEY GET ALL WORRIED AND CRAZY ABOUT NOTHING AND THEN THEY MARRY HIM. - CHER

REMEMBER, GINGER ROGERS DID EVERYTHING FRED ASTAIRE DID, BUT SHE DID IT BACKWARDS AND IN HIGH HEELS - FAITH WHITTLESEY

NORMAL IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER. - WHOOPI GOLDBERG

I NEVER MARRIED BECAUSE THERE WAS NO NEED. I HAVE THREE PETS AT HOME WHICH ANSWER THE SAME PURPOSE AS A HUSBAND. I HAVE A DOG WHICH GROWLS EVERY MORNING, A PARROT WHICH SWEARS ALL AFTERNOON AND A CAT THAT COMES HOME LATE AT NIGHT - MARIE CORELLI

IN PASSING, ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT THE FIRST TIME ADAM HAD A CHANCE HE LAID THE BLAME ON A WOMAN - NANCY ASTOR

THE BEST WAY TO GET MOST HUSBANDS TO DO SOMETHING IS TO SUGGEST THAT PERHAPS THEY'RE TOO OLD TO DO IT - ANN BANCROFT

MEN ARE LIKE A FINE WINE. THEY ALL START OUT LIKE GRAPES, AND IT'S OUR JOB TO STOMP ON THEM AND KEEP THEM IN THE DARK UNTIL THEY MATURE INTO SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH. - ANONYMOUS

PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS ASKING COUPLES WHOSE MARRIAGES HAVE ENDURED AT LEAST A QUARTER OF A CENTURY FOR THEIR SECRET FOR SUCCESS. ACTUALLY, IT IS NO SECRET AT ALL. I AM A FORGIVING WOMAN. LONG AGO, I FORGAVE MY HUSBAND FOR NOT BEING PAUL NEWMAN - ERMA BOMBECK

I'M NOT OFFENDED BY ALL THE DUMB BLOND JOKES BECAUSE I KNOW I'M NOT DUMB..AND I ALSO KNOW THAT I'M NOT BLOND - DOLLY PARTON

OLD AGE AIN'T NO PLACE FOR SISSIES - BETTE DAVIS

IN POLITICS, IF YOU WANT ANYTHING SAID, ASK A MAN. IF YOU WANT ANYTHING DONE, ASK A WOMEN - MARGARET THATCHER

NOBODY CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION - ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

I HAVE EVERYTHING I HAD 20 YEARS AGO EXCEPT NOW IT'S LOWER - GYPSY ROSE LEE

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH - Women in Politics, It's DIVA to run for office!

Fifteen years ago today Janet Reno became the first, and so far the only, female Attorney General of the United States. She was nominated by President Clinton on February 11th, 1993 and was confirmed one month later to become the second longest serving Attorney General in the U.S. Her term in office ran from March 11th, 1993 to January 20th, 2001.

Here's a time line of other women in politics - maybe we are finally gettin' somewhere?

1872: Susan B. Anthony is the first U.S. woman to register to vote. As a result she becomes the first to make a ballot, for which she is arrested.

1917: Jeanette Rankin of Montana is the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

1930: Alexandra Kollontai is appointed Ambassador from the Soviet Union to Sweden, becoming the first woman Ambassador in modern history.

1960: Siramavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) becomes the world's first female Prime Minister.

1966: Indira Gandhi becomes the first Prime Minister of India.

1969: Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.

1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman Prime Mnister of the United Kingdom. She served in that position -- winning re-election in 1983 and in 1987 -- until resigning in 1990.

1984: Geraldine Ferraro is the first woman nominated for Vice-President by either major political party in the United States.

1986: Corazon Aquino is the first woman elected president of the Philippines.

1988: Benazir Bhutto is the first woman elected Prime Minister of Pakistan and becomes the first woman elected to head a Muslim country.

1990: Carmen Lawrence is Australia's first female premier.

1991: Edith Cresson is the first woman elected Prime Minister of France.

1991: Rita Johnston is Canada's first female Premier.

1992: California elects two women, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, to the U.S. Senate.

1992: Betty Boothroyd is the first woman chosen to be Speaker of the House of Commons in Great Britain.

2002: Nancy Pelosi is sworn in as the House Democratic Whip - the highest-ranking leadership position ever held by a women in the United States Congress at that time. She was later named Minority Leader.

2006: Democrats take control of the United States Congress and Nancy Pelosi is elevated to the position of Speaker of the House. She is the third highest ranking official in the United States government and the highest ranking female in US political history.

2007: Senator Hillary Clinton is the first woman to ever be considered as a serious candidate for the US Presidency.

And don't forget Shirley Temple Black! - She was appointed a delegate to the United Nations by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969. She was United States Ambassador to Ghana (1974–76). In 1976, she became the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States. She was United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989–92).

As of this date, twenty-nine women have been or are currently serving as the governor of an American state. currently there are 16 women serving in the 100 member Senate, 73 women serving in the U.S. House of Representatives of the 110th Congress, and one woman running for President of the United States.

I wonder, if Hillary wins, would her Secret Service codename be MsPOTUS?

The image at the top of the post "FIRST HUSBAND?" was adapted from my political parody, WASHINGTON DISSES WASHINGTON. The original image is available as archival giclees in various sizes on my website, PopArtDiva.com. Copyright 2008 by PopArtDiva.com. All rights reserved. No permission is given to copy, distribute or reproduce without written permission from PopArtDiva.com.

MARCH IS WOMAN'S HISTORY MONTH - Today: Famous Women Inventors and Hedy Lamarr is one of them!

March is National Women’s History Month and today I am focusing on Women Inventors. These are the DIVAS who have made our lives easier, more comfortable and more secure and we should all kick up our high heels in thanks and celebration.

The DIVA for today is Hedy Lamarr. You may think of her as "the most beautiful woman in the world", as a film actress and a movie star, but this DIVA was far more than that. She was a woman of intelligence, humanity, creativity and invention!

Thanks to Hedy Lamar you can have a secure conversation on your cell phone. As a result of events in her personal life, Lamar invented the spread spectrum communication, an anti-rocket frequency hopping device, as a way to guide torpedoes to their target without being intercepted by the enemy.Wanting to help the war effort, Hedy Lamarr and a musician friend, George Antheil, developed a technology based on the player piano that would change the radio frequency of a signal, thus blocking an enemy from intercepting and jamming the signal.

Though never used in World War II this device is now at the core of modern cell phone technology. CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) uses spread spectrum technology because the encryption allows for better security and privacy for cell phone users. Additionally, spread spectrum allows for simultaneous communication over the same bands without noticable interference, allowing for shared frequencies and more bandwidth for increasing demand.

So, my dear DIVAS, you can thank this amazingly beautiful and talented DIVA of invention, Ms. Hedy Lamarr, the next time you pick up your cell phone to make a call or surf the internet!

Other inventions by women that have changed the world we live in for the better:

1812 - Tabitha Babbitt invented the circular saw.

1864 - Sarah P. Mather invented the submarine telescope.

1867 - Elizabeth Hawk invented the cooking stove.

1871 - Margaret Colvin invented the washing machine.

1886 - Josephine Cochrane invented the dishwasher.

1887 - Anna Connelly invented the fire escape.

1903 - Mary Anderson - invented a window cleaning device for street cars that eventually became the forefunner to the windshield wiper.

1914 - Florence Parpart invented the refrigerator.

1917 - Ida Forbes invented the electric hot water heater.

1930 - Ruth Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie (ok, technically a recipe not an invention, but where would DIVAs be without Chocolate Chip Cookies?

1946 - Marion Donovan invented the disposable diaper.

1956 - Patsy O. Sherman invented Scotchgard.

1956 - Bette Nesmith Graham (mother of Michael Nesmith,member of The Monkees!) invented "Mistake Out" later named Liquid Paper

1965 - Stephanie Kwolek invented Kevlar, the material used in the making of bullet proof vests.

To learn more about your DIVA sisters who paved the way for you:

National Women's History Project

Women Nobel Prize Winners

Women Pulitzer Prize Winners

The National Parks Historic Places, Womens History Month

New Jersey Women - History: Clara Barton

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

How to Take a DIVA DAY OFF

Sometimes it's healthy to take a day off from your life. It's a day where you give yourself a reprive from all the things you think you "have" to do. Sometimes you can let "stuff" go for at least one day and instead you can:

• Have a leisurely breakfast while you watch "The View"
• Take a hot bubble bath where you pour in the entire bottle of bubbles!
• Watch DVDs all day
• Read a whole book
• Order in great take-out instead of cooking and washing dishes
• Eat the WHOLE box of cookies
• Call your friends and have a good long chat
• Take out your photo albums while you drink a glass of wine
• Have a massage, a mani-pedi and skip your work out
• Write some great letters to people you love - on real stationery - and dab on some perfume!
• Play Fetch with your dog or wiggle a feather for your cat
• Have ice cream for lunch
• Have a nap
• Spend the whole day in your pjs
• Put on some music and dance naked
• Check out the price of yachts on the internet
• Get in the car and have a day road trip with your best friend - take a picnic basket

Whatever gives you a sense of "to hell with it" or makes you feel all comfy and "tucked in", however it makes you feel or however you approach it, a DIVA Day off is good for the heart and soul. And you'll go back to your normal schedule with a little Cheshire Cat smile and a little more rested.

THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND - A Diva Royal!

I watched Barbara Walter's special tonight on the Royal Family and fell in love with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. If you ever want to see the epitome of Diva just take a look at this amazing woman who, at almost 82 years old reigns over the United Kingdom with grace, intelligence, style and a wee bit of humor.

When Elizabeth was crowned Queen on June 2nd, 1953 at Westminster Abbey, she was 27 years old. She has spent 55 years in service to the Crown, her country and her subjects and she has done it always with elegance and graciousness. Her rule has lasted through 10 Presidents, countless wars, personal tragedies and over 50 years of world events and through all this she always been a lady.

Every woman who has a desire to be a Diva need only look across the pond and peek into Buckingham Palace for the best example of what a true woman and a real Diva can be.

Yes, I kind of developed a crush on "Lilibet" - I think it was that little twinkle of humor in her eyes that got me, a dyed in the wool Yankee from Kansas, in the end. She's kind of a cutie!

The Official Website of the British Monarchy

GO PINCH THE BUTT OF A YOUNG BOY'S TUSHIE!

I wrote this little ditty as a joke some time ago to cheer up a friend. I find that I needed it myself the last few days.

Having just lost my little bird, Petey, who was with me nearly 40 years, I came to realize that I am closer to living this little limerick I wrote than I had realized. When you lose a pet that you've had for longer than some people have been alive you start thinking strange things I guess. But true to my nature, I'll be a DIVA 'til the end!

We'll sail away to foreign shores,
drink martinis, eat some s'mores,
When we're old and feeling pushy,
we'll pinch the butts of young boys tooshies!

Bang our canes on the top of the bar,
Demand more booze, because we are
Two old broads with heat and steam,
who won't grow old because we're mean!

If any of you are feeling less than DIVA tonight, I hope this little poem will bring you some cheer.

Copyright 2008 by PopArtDiva.com

Sometimes You Just Don't Feel the DIVA

I haven't been feeling real DIVA this week. I lost my wonderful little bird, Peter Pan, my little cockatiel. I've had him for over 35 years and he was a huge part of most of my adult life.

He was a typical male, demanding, kind of grumpy (especially as he got older), and he loved to bite until he drew blood. I got him as a mate for my first cockatiel, Tinkerbell, and these two birds were just great entertainment as well as loving pets.

A lot of people don't like birds as pets. They don't understand how amazing these little creatures truly are. Tinkerbell was a DIVA of a bird. She loved to land on the dinner table and partake of people food and I had to constantly keep her out of things that would do her harm. Petey loved butter - I had to keep my butter in a butter dish with a lid!

When they were learning to mate it was a hilarious adventure - they would go through their entire mating ritual, finally get down to business and then - bang! - they would fall off the perch!

Once Petey caught his tail on fire! He was sitting on a lamp for warmth, his tail feathers touching the light bulb. I looked over and there was smoke coming up from his tail! No harm done, I grabbed him off the lamp and made sure he was all right. I've laughed over this for decades.

Poor Peter Pan lived in a world of women. He was the king of my house, according to his beliefs. He ruled his kingdom well. From my first dog, Gypsy, who would herd him and Tinkerbell around the floor, then Shadow, my female cockapoo I had for 17 years, right down to Pixel, my present dog, a Yorkipoo who had great respect for Peter Pan! He ruled the roost, that little gray bird and I will miss him terribly.

Peter Pan, go be with your mate Tinkerbell. Fly free and be happy. Your were my tiny little king and I love you.

GLORIOUS, GLAMOROUS OSCAR SWAG!?

Even Mona Gets Swag!

It's Spring so it must be time for the Academy Awards. Yup, sure enough Sunday is the big day. Red Carpets get rolled out, limos get a spit polish and a tune-up, bars get stocked with Crystal and Dom, and the Fashion Police ready their poison pens.

It's a time of nerves, noshing, nastiness and narcissism. The celebs have spent months hunting for their pro bono* designer gowns, tuxes, jewels and accessories, hours in the make-up chair and weeks writing and rewriting the obligatory "it's an honor just to be nominated" sound bytes.

For some it will be a night of celebration and victory, others will go home without the man of the evening - Oscar. But no one will go home empty handed thanks to swag. Don't know about swag? Oh my, let me tell you about swag!

At every "A" list, "B" list and even "C" list party in La La Land on Sunday night there will be lovely, elegantly designed gift bags and baskets filled to overflowing with free goodies from every posh retailer, manufacturer and business looking to get their "stuff" seen on, near, around or under a famous face. Everything from jewel encrusted smart phones and crystal encased make-up to wine, whoopie (in the form of free hotel rooms) and song (specially packaged cds and dvds).

If it can be dressed up and shoved in a bag, basket, box or container it can become swag. And the marketers and promoters have taken this public relations maneuver to new heights. Every year these goodies become more and more expensive and more and more decadent. Some of these bag's values have reached six figures. Yup, One little bag can contain more dollar value than most Americans earn in a year.

Don't believe me? Read some of what's been included in an Oscar Swag Bag! Sort of makes you feel "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" has added meaning at Oscar time, huh? (And we're not even going into the posh, romanesque decadence of the parties and food being served up to those lucky stars and starlets!)

But fear not my intrepid but swagless Divas! There really is nothing free in this world. Those poor beleaguered famous folk must now pony up cash in the form of income tax on their goodie bags! Leave it to Uncle Sam's accountant to leave no stone unturned in the quest for tax dollars.

So, while you're sitting on your dog-hair covered couch, in your coffee stained jammies, eating popcorn out of a microwave bag and sipping your diet soda, you can watch the Awards ceremony with a little less envy and a lot less worry over a possible audit!

The Bling is Dead! Long Live the Tax Free Swag!

* Pro Bono translates into "for the public good". Whether or not free designer garb for movie stars could really be considered "for the public good" is debatable, but "gratis" and "free" just didn't sound as snooty, teehee :).

An Affair to Remember - Half a Century of Hankies

I am having a day off, enjoying a martini and watching "An Affair to Remember" with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr for probably the 50th time. This movie always reminds me of my mother. It was one of her favorite movies and we would often watch it together - crying into hankies Mom had embroidered with little flower buds and initials. It was a favorite ritual of ours.

To this day this movie makes me cry but now it's because I miss my Mom's company as I watch it. I absolutely love the theme song, whenever I hear it I think of my mother and our love of old romantic movies. It's a DIVA day of tear jerkers and martinis - we all need one every once in a while.

It's hard for me to believe that movie is fifty years old. It's hard for me to believe my Mom's been gone for 16 years. Mom, this day, this martini and this song is for you - I love you and miss you. You taught me how to be a DIVA.

Take a little trip down Chick Flick lane while you enjoy my favorite part of the movie - the grandmother playing the theme song on the piano for Nikki and Terry.

NEED A GAZILLION DOLLARS?

HERE'S SOME $$$$$ - BECAUSE EVERY DIVA NEEDS A LITTLE FUN MONEY!
(Left click to bring up the Full Size images, then Right Click and Save As. Print on white paper only.
Images copyright 2007 by PopArtDiva.Com. These images are for your personal use only. No permission is given to post them to any website, blog or use for any commercial purpose. How to License an image from PopArtDiva.com)

If you didn't get any bling as a present for Valentine's Day you need to go out and get some for yourself! Here's a little extra cash for your dreams of Champagne and Caviar or Martinis and Monolos!

Keep this in your designer purse to make you feel rich and rolling in DIVA dollars! Imagine yourself giving away a few million, flying off to Paris for brunch, lounging on your own private tropical beach! Visualization is a powerful tool!

Happy imaginary spending, saving and giving! Spend a few minutes today being grateful for your DIVA life!

Looking for some inspirational art to motivate your DIVA mojo? Check out these inspiring works of art from PopArtDiva.com.

VALENTINE'S DAY - Is Cupid the Gangsta of Love?

IF YOU REALLY LOVE ME - From my Pop Culture Art at my website. Available as archival prints and giclees on canvas in various sizes

Valentine's Day. The day of romance that will live in infamy. This is the day the merchandisers have made unholy. It is the day they have exploited to sell product. It is the day of libidinous lovers and trembling twosomes. It is also the day that can make you feel unloved, unwanted and undesired if you are not half of a couple.

Starting in grade school we have been conditioned to measure how loved we are by how many valentines we got in our pretty little red and white shoe boxes that we decorated up with construction paper hearts and fat little angels bearing bows and arrows. Heaven forbid if you were not "popular", if you were weird looking, fat, or different. Your little box would be sadly empty, echoing with the evidence of your lack of friends, your unlovable personality. Those empty boxes would leave scars that were reopened every 14th of February for many lonely souls. Those chubby little cupids floating into our lives on the day of St. Valentine weren't our friends, they were the gangsters of love! Shooting arrows into our self esteem they left us with our hopes of undying devotion bleeding on the pavement!

In today's world Valentine's day is a looming calendar event where women fret if they do not have a date, men cringe as they attempt to match the proper gift to the level of the relationship, candy stores celebrate in advance the swelling of their cash registers and restaurants scurry to festoon their decor with the traditional hearts and flowers of romantic love. The card racks in every drugstore and stationary store become drenched in red and pink, candies are dipped in red, pink and white and the world gets painted with the colors of love. Oh, sweet mystery of life you make me want to gag.

Enough already! Somebody ground that flying little fat toddler of fertility! Spare me the images of lovers entwined, candles aglow and pretentious proposals of matrimony! Hand me some blinders to block the glare of all the shades of red that assault my eyes! Give me a freaking break from the barrage of reminders screaming at me that yet another year has come and I am a woman alone!

Because I don't care anymore. I no longer feel the need to be "half of a whole". I am whole within myself. I am not a lesser woman because I don't "have" a man. I am single by choice, not by default. I do not wish to define myself as the mate of someone. I am someone in my own right. So, get off my back, quit trying to find me a man and stop trying to fix me. There's nothing wrong with me. I am fine. I am complete. I am happy. I love who I am. I am loved!

You know, I think I'll send myself some candy and a Valentine!

(P.S. Celebrate your own wonderful self on Valentine's Day with my newest martini from The Martini Diva - The Chocolate Covered Strawberry Martini and stop by my Pop Culture Blog for my thoughts on those little candy hearts with sayings on them!)

Women and Sex in the Workplace - Yesterday vs. Today

AMERICAN DIVA GOTHIC.
This piece is available as an archival print or a giclee on canvas at my website and it will soon be available on a number of other products like tees, cups, aprons, cards and more at the PopArtDiva Boutique opening fully in March.

Every day in current news is some story about a woman suing someone for sexual harassment. For me reading these stories is both good and bad. Good because I am happy to see women standing up for themselves and getting some justice, bad because I'm a little jealous of modern women's abilities and resources for standing up for themselves.

I experienced sexual harassment on a daily basis at almost every job I had when I was young. I was subjected to this form of indignity almost daily and had to put up with it or lose my job. It might have been as innocent as a little pat on the arm, a sexually charged joke or comment, or as overt as the boss using his power to attempt to threaten job loss if you didn't "go on a business trip" with him.

I quit many jobs because of sexual intimidation of one form or another. In those days we didn't really know we had the option of filing a lawsuit, even when we did we knew it was a losing battle!* We either put up with the disrespect and torment to whatever degree we could or we found a new job to put an end to it. Often the new job would end up being just as bad or worse and off we went to another round of interviews during our lunch hours.

In the eighties, when sexual harassment finally came under the spotlight, we were still subjected to lower salaries, less chance for advancement and the "glass ceiling". When I was promoted to a management position at my last corporate job, I asked for the same salary as other department heads. I was told, in so many words, that because I was a "single woman" and did not have a "family to support" that this would not be possible. Though I was as qualified and was doing the same job, I never came near the pay scale of males in the same position. Nor was I ever going to rise beyond a lower level managerial position - no matter what title they gave it. There wasn't one single, high level female at that company. Is it any wonder I quit corporate America in the early 1980s and became self-employed?

Even self-employment was no guarantee of equality or freedom from discrimination. I often lost job bids to male counterparts. I could not charge the same rate as a male doing the same work. As an artist today I still deal with this issue in the pricing of my work and it's sale.**

As stupid as it would seem in this day and age, corporate America will still allow and even condone disrespect and disparagement of women by their male employees. It may have gone undergroung but the "boys club" is still alive and well and "smoking cigars" in the boardrooms and cubicles of America, and the women are still "making the coffee" and manning the keyboards.

So don't think it's a Brave New World out there, ladies. It's still a man's world in too many ways. Women still suffer from discrimination in hundreds of small ways from lower salaries to less opportunity for advancement to being treated with less respect.

We may have come a long way, baby, but we still have a long way to go. As DIVAS we should always keep that in mind and work towards our true equality.


*Just because a law is passed doesn't mean the courts and the juries will back it up! If society as a whole is still in the dark ages, no law will bring that society forward into the light! See links below.

The Chronology of Sexual Harassment Law

The Chronology of Sexual Harassment Lawsuits (scroll to bottom of article)

**Art, the "X" factor - Prices for art, male versus female

Tramp, Trollop, Strumpet, Floozy, Tart, Jezebel, Hussy, Harlot, Wench, Chippie, Vamp!

This piece is available as an archival print or a giclee on canvas at my website and it will soon be available on a number of other products like tees, cups, aprons, cards and more at the PopArtDiva Boutique which will open fully in March.


PORTRAIT OF A SOILED DOVE
Confessions of a Past Life Madam

A friend and I were enjoying some of my Perfect Cherry Martinis the other day and we got off on the subject of "women of ill repute". Don't ask me how the conversation got around to that subject, we were, after all, well into our third martini at the time.

We were attempting to come up with all the vintage words for "shady ladies" and ended up with this list:

Tramp, Trollop, Stumpet, Floozy, Tart, Jezebel, Hussy, Harlot, Wench, Chippie, Vamp, and Concubine as well as the terms of "soiled dove", "woman of ill repute", "fallen woman" and "shady ladies".

We were laughing and pointing at each other as we called them out. It was totally goofy and totally fun and we were laughing like a couple of mad women at the archaic terms. I suppose we would not place ourselves in any of those categories and, therefore, it was hilarious to fling them at each other.

Afterwards I got to thinking (yes, I know, thinking always gets me into trouble), but I thought, I like those words. They carry a kind of romance that is absent in our current vernacular, they have a touch of understanding and humor - maybe because of the eras they come from.

In times past there were only so many jobs a woman could take if she had no husband, family or community to support her. Her choices were pretty much limited to being a teacher, a cook, a seamstress, running a boarding house, taking in laundry or become a "fallen woman". If you had no education or money most of those jobs were out of your reach. If you didn't want to starve there was often only one choice. (Read "Soiled Dove Plea"). In today's world we are not so limited, but it is only recent history where that change has occurred.

Had I been born 100 or so years earlier my life would have been a whole different story! If I had the kind of temperament I have in this century I doubt, very sincerely, if I would have become a farmer's wife, a seamstress or a teacher. I cannot see myself plowing a field, I hate to sew and a school room full of kids is not my idea of a great job. Plus, my personality does not lend itself to being good wife material!

I am convinced I would have eventually become a Madam in some Honky Tonk in one of the "big cities". I like business, I'm pretty sociable, I like to have a drink now and then, I like flashy clothes, I like to paint my face and I like gambling towns. That pretty much points to career in a past life as the proprietor of a house of ill repute. Of course, being the control freak that I am I would have to be the Madam. I am not one to "work in the field", I'm better at giving orders and letting others do the menial tasks!

Picture me in a lavender satin dress, petticoats so large I knock the whiskey glasses off the tables, lots of ostrich feathers, a good amount of rouge (that's blush to you young 'uns out thar!), my hair dyed an electric shade of pinkish red, big bosoms proudly heaving in my d'ecolletage, enjoying a "snort" while my "girls" earn their keep upstairs adding more silver dollars to my coffers!

Madam Diva welcomes you to her establishment, The Fabulous Fallen Females of Fable Falls are here to entertain you! Put yer pistols behind the bar, grab yer girl and commence to pokin!

You'll have to put your dollar on the dresser, Dearie, before they drop their drawers!