May 17, 2012 Thursday Afternoon

RIP Donna Summer.  So sad.  More on this later.

Spent last night watching the ABC TV line up.  Went to bed around 10:20 PM after the local news.

This morning I was up at 6:30 AM.  Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot.  Spent the morning doing things around the house.  Tony called me a little before noon to ask if I had heard the news that Donna Summer had died.  I had not.  Wow!  I am not sure there is any other artist I listened to more than Donna Summer.  Yes, I loved disco.  When I think back, her music was a part of my life, the important learning part of my life.  Actually Donna Summer's Live And More was the first album I ever bought.  I remember well dancing at the Red Rooster Disco in Waukesha in 1979 and the last song played was always Last Dance.  I can remember when her big hits Hot Stuff and Bad Girls came out I was in college and not many people on my dorm floor liked Disco.  I remember playing the album so many times I had to buy a second one, I wore out the first album playing it so often.  I can still see myself dancing in the Discos to Hot Stuff, Bad Girls, Dim All The Lights and Enough Is Enough.  I was living in Madison for the Summer when She Works Hard For The Money was released.  It was played nonstop on the radio when it was first released.  I think we all remember the video being just as popular.  I can even picture myself dancing with Marty at the first gay bar I was at called The Factory to the song Finger On The Trigger.  Marty died of AIDS about 4 years later I was told.  I see Marty's face every time I hear the song Finger On The Trigger or Get Down On It by Kool & The Gang.  So it is very sad to hear that Donna Summer died today of Cancer.  When I go through her song list I can picture myself where I was and what I did at that point in my life.  I don't think there is anyone else music wise I can do this with.   In college it was not popular to listen to Disco, I bucked the trend and listened and loved it anyway.  I honestly have every album or CD she has released, even the ones that did not do as well towards the end of her popularity.  I took a walk this afternoon around the trails and river listening to her music on my IPOD.  As each song played I could picture where I was in my life and what I was doing.  I am listening to her still now as I type this blog.  Tony and I even drove down to Chicago about 15 years ago to see her in concert.  She gave a great concert and sang every hit song.  It was a magical night since I had always wanted to see her in concert and was finally able to.   I heard she was starting a Standards CD and a Dance CD in 2010.  Hope she has more to release in the future.  It is also sad she was only 63 years old.  Life sure isn't fair or a sure thing, is it?  Not sure why some people get to live to close to 100 and others die so much before that when they had so much more they could have contributed if they had lived longer.  I do also remember the controversy she caused in the beginning of the AIDS crisis.  She had such a big gay following, yet kinda threw us under the bus when she discussed AIDS and turned Christian.  Later years she changed her tune or denied what was said.  I do not and did not ever hold this against her knowing words can be taken out of context and views change as the years go by.  So, I will miss Donna Summer and remember her music fondly.  On a side note, I took my pedometer with me on my walk.  It says my walk around the river is 4891 steps.  According to the conversion chart I checked that is about 2 miles.  Not a bad walk daily?  I think I remember hearing that everyone should take at least 2000 walking steps a day.  Now if I could just loose some weight with all this walking.  Making Sweet N Sour Chicken and Rice with a salad tonight for supper.  Will spend the night watching TV.  It is only 60 degrees today in Milwaukee.  A cool breeze is coming off Lake Michigan keeping it cooler here by the lake.  Suppose to be in the 80s this weekend.