By now, most of us are sick of the health care debate raging here in the U.S. I think it’s finally dawned on everyone that something has to be done, even if only for political reasons. Here in America if you work for a company large enough to have some clout in negotiating health insurance rates, you’re golden. And if you are poor enough, you may qualify for programs. The squeeze is in between: the self-employed, or those who work for small businesses.
There is something wrong when: families face foreclosure because they had to borrow money from their home to support an ailing parent; small business owners have to pay over $2,000.00 monthly for one family’s insurance; a retired person on fixed income has to debate whether or not to continue paying for her $800/month insurance; an uninsured individual has to file for bankruptcy to get out from under the debt created when he had cancer.
Well, it appears that we are getting closer to a health care overhaul. But we still have our stumbling blocks, including the public option. People are afraid it will lead to socialized medicine, and take away from their current health care options. Never mind that the insurance companies have been placing limits on us and our doctors for years, and that the public option is merely an alternative (but that’s another topic).
Critics of the major overhaul cite anecdotes of a failed health care system abroad where the elderly are denied care and health care in general is more restrictive. But I have to wonder whether this is true, given that they are the same persons who accused Obama of wanting to create death panels for the elderly. I thought it appropriate to hear from our readers, since I know our Cassidy people hail from Canada and England, among other places. Please write and tell us: What country are you from? What has your experience been? Do you like the health care you currently have? Encourage others you know to write and inform us. We will report back to you in a future post. And thank you for weighing in.
Since Elle did a post yesterday on dancing, I thought it would be fun to blog about David doing a little salsa. This is the “now” David. So admittedly, he’s not Gilles nor Cristian, but he’s also not Girlyman! Seriously!
Not bad. Not bad at all. He’s got a bit of Latin hip action goin’ on. Nice!!! Either he’s done this before or he’s a really fast learner.
He’s only on the video for the first 4 minutes. Thank you for the clip, Daydreaming David!!! Enjoy!!!
When Staingirl Kaye and I first embarked on our blogging journey, I envisioned us as the Oprahs of the blogosphere, teaching, entertaining and always opining on anything and everything that interests women “of a certain age”. Yes, this could occasionally include talking about guys and other issues that arise there. After all, Oprah does that. Little did I guess that staingirlz.com would become a David Cassidy lustfest. Kaye knows I don’t get this. After all, the older videos are of him at the age of my oldest son (Eww!), where he actually looks a little like a Girlyman. And the newer videos of the older David Cassidy… The man has aged nicely enough, but he’s no sex god.
Okay you Cassidy-ites, tone down the hate mail. And my dear progeny, don’t barf, and don’t hate on me. One time only, and for the sake of educating the Cassidy people, I am going to dedicate my post to a real sex god: Gilles Marini (otherwise known as Sexy Naked Neighbor from Sex and the City). Here is a man who knows how to move and really seduce a woman:
More importantly, Gilles Marini has the goods that go with the movements. I did not try to find a clip of Sexy Naked Guy because this is a family-friendly sight and kids don’t need to see full frontal nudity. But here’s a cute clip where he is causing quite a stir with the Walker family on Brothers & Sisters as the new French lover of one of the sisters. The goods (and I don’t mean the bulge) become more visible at the end of the clip:
Not surprising that the powers that be at Brothers & Sisters have extended his original five-episode contract with an additional four. Gilles Marini, there’s a young man not caught in a time warp that I can go cougar on without feeling like a pervert (David Cassidy, Seriously?)! Have at it Ladies, and easy on the hate mail.
I don’t know about you, but I’m still recovering from the dazzled state I found myself in late last week from ogling all those radiant David images. Wow, that was an intense lust fest!! (Seriously, Elle ) Thanks!!! We’ll have to do that again soon. LOL!!!
So today, I decided to post a few videos to one of his songs that, surprisingly for me, overrides the ever-present erotic nature of David imagery with a feeling of falling head-over-heels in love with him every time I hear it. I hope you like it because I’ve got three renditions of the same song. LOL!!! (Effusive as ever.) If anything, it’s interesting to hear the change in his voice over the years. These are then, now, and in between versions.
The then and now Could It Be Forever videos were my first David Cassidy posting idea for staingirlz.com, even before Elle’s 30-day blogging challenge was conceived. The “now” video embedded is, in part, a tribute to the “staingirl.” If you do not know what a staingirl is, this will give you a “big” hint. LOL!!!
Which is your favorite version? And while you’re at it, are you a staingirl? Or do you wish you were one?
All three of these videos were created by Sumerkis38 on YouTube.
Then (eyelash and uber superpuppy alert):
In between:
Now (The bra is alive. LOL!!! I love how he does the “love you” and “be still my heart” gestures):
It’s hard to believe that we’re a little over half-way in our 30-day blogging challenge. And have we learned anything? Yes, Kaye, Daydreaming David, et al. were right. Apparently, David Cassidy is bloggable (and I still have to ask, “Seriously?”). But now for the real question: “Is content king?” If we write the content, will the search engines pick us up, and send people in our direction?
And the answer is a qualified yes. Our traffic has picked up substantially since we began our 30-day challenge, but it’s interesting to see where the traffic is coming from: 42% comes directly to us, 47% are referred to us from other sites, and 11% comes through the search engines.
I assume that the direct traffic is people who know us, whether because of having come across us in prior posts or already being in contact with us for some reason or other. After all, staingirlz.com is not yet widely known. The breakdown of the referred traffic is interesting: the bulk of our referrals are coming from daydreaming.blogspot.com (no surprise there if you have been following the David Cassidy posts and the comments). I would hazard a guess that a good chunk of our direct and referral traffic is coming due to Kaye’s networking with other David Cassidy bloggers.
Surprisingly, we are also getting referrals from digg and facebook. I have no clue as to the facebook referral. We have not yet branched out there. But digg stems from an article submitted to digg.com in September: Socialist Propaganda and Death Panels for Granny, Oh My! It got very little traffic back then, but seems to be bringing us more traffic since the beginning of our 30-day challenge.
And as for the search engines? They are picking us up, but not in the same proportion that we receive traffic from other sources. I have noticed, however, an uptick as time goes on. During the two weeks preceding our blogging challenge, we only received 1 hit from the search engine. During the first 15 days of our challenge, we received 45 visits via a search engine. Still not fabulous, but a major increase and the trend appears to be a steady increment. I had read elsewhere that it takes three to six months for search engine traffic to build up.
So what have we learned so far? If you write it, they will come, albeit slowly. We have been at this only 16 days, but I think that consistent posting does increase traffic somewhat. Other approaches appear to be more effective. Kaye’s social networking with like-minded people on David Cassidy proved to be a very effective way of bringing traffic to our site. And submission to other sites, such as digg also appears to drive traffic. We will give you a final report at the end of 30 days.
Hi friends!!! I’m a little late this morning in posting, I apologize. And “Hello!” to Elle’s progeny. You must be getting a bit of an education in reading these posts and comments, huh? Did you know that grown women could go so gaga over an idol? LOL!!
When I had the idea of showcasing David’s eyelashes, I remembered this one video I loved because there were so many close up pictures of his beautiful face while he was performing. That is where the image Eyelashes All Over The Place came to mind. But when I did that post, I had somehow lost track of the video. I couldn’t find it again because I had forgotten the song that accompanied it.
This past week, Daydreaming David’s Live Wishlist blog post spurred me to take out some time to learn more about David’s work. In doing so, I finally stumbled onto that video again!!!! It was immediately obvious because I had left one of the most recent comments about it: “Eyelashes all over the place.” LOL!!! I’m so elated to have found this again.
You can really appreciate the man’s beauty in these pictures, and the eyelashes especially at 2:57!!! It’s amazing they can cast such shadows on his lovely face.
Now, I know most of you have probably already seen this video, but perhaps you don’t remember the special surprise embedded in it??? I know it’s not Easter, but there is a special prize Easter egg here for you to find. It’s an easy one. You can’t miss it. LOL!!!!!
From cherishdavid’s YouTube channel (thank you, thank you, cherishdavid), get ready to become intoxicated once again from this abundance of evocative David images:
For many of us, domestic violence is something we read or hear about, but we may not know anyone affected. Or do we? In her recent interview on Good Morning America, Rihanna talked about the shame and embarassment she felt for having a relationship with someone who would do this to her. In her case, her fame brought the incident to light when the police were called. But how often do these incidents take place and we don’t find out because a friend is too ashamed to reach out? And then I start to think, could this happen to my daughter?
When we see Rihanna in public, she comes across as a strong, confident young woman. Yet during the interview she admitted to having a hard time leaving the situation. When Diane Sawyer said that on average it takes a woman seven attempts to leave an abusive relationship, Rihanna responds, “eight or nine, actually”. Ultimately, it was her realization that as a public person, she also serves as a role model for young girls. She admonishes young girls not to stay in a dangerous situation for love. “F— love.” I have not seen the rest of the interview, but I found this portion interesting.
October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month, but we should be aware at all times. If you see someone who looks like she may be in trouble, don’t assume it’s none of your business. She may be too ashamed to reach out. We would want someone to help our sister, our daughter, our friend. And Rihanna, thank you for speaking out.
Elle, you’re right, I have been doing most of the posting. It’s pretty easy when the pictures, videos, and music do most of the work for you. Seriously! Finding the gems I want to post about has taken some time, but I confess I have been working on this collection for over three months now.
And here’s another one. Public Health Alert (thanks British Fan!! LOL!!!): His pants really were “on fire”, weren’t they??? I think that is the point of this video. LOL! Many thanks to cherishdavid on YouTube!!
Nothing is more motivating than taking on a challenge, especially when my blogging partner, Staingirl Kaye, does most of the work. Thanks, Kaye (even if it’s mainly about David Cassidy, and again, seriously?). But I am proposing a new challenge that I cannot delegate to a partner, although I hope she will occasionally join me: walking 30 minutes a day for 30 consecutive days as prescribed by Dr. Oz.
Dr. Oz is a fantastic Oprah discovery. He taught us that regular lovin’ is good for a man’s heart. I subscribe to his Real Age newsletter in the hopes that by osmosis his fitness and health tips will get me fit and healthy. No such luck yet! I have been a bit of a couch potato and I know it’s time to do something. Also, my sister has yet again mentioned that it would be fun to run a half-marathon together, which would be a disaster in my current state.
So I got excited when I read Dr. Oz’s most current article on the key to beginning a fitness plan for a couch potato. The article explains that walking 30 minutes a day for 30 days replenishes two deficiencies in out-of-shape muscles: mitochondria that generates juice for your workouts and contractile proteins that give the muscle strength. At the end of the 30 days, your body will be able to take on new challenges. Who knows, maybe we could start training for a half-marathon?
Today I begin my first day of this fitness challenge: walking 30 minutes a day for 30 days. I hope you will join me if you are not already further along in your fitness journey. I will limit my writing on this topic to the occasional amazing discovery or tips, if I come about any. And of course you will hear about it at the end of the 30 days. However, if you do join me, or planning on beginning soon, please let us know. And if you have any motivational tips, I’d love to hear from you. Here’s to our good health!
Here’s a song from Blood Brothers sung by the two Cassidy heartthrobs who had starred in the play, David and Shaun. It’s beautifully done. I enjoy seeing these two together. Can you feel the love? It’s also wonderful to see David singing his heart out!!! Patrick has a great voice too, and I understand that Ryan also sings. What do you think ladies, the four Cassidy brothers as Il Divo? That would have been a something.
For those of you who don’t know the play, here is a description from Wikipedia:
The musical has a contemporary nature vs. nurture plot, revolving around fraternal twins who were separated at birth. The twins’ different backgrounds take them to opposite ends of the social spectrum, one becoming an Oxbridge-graduated councillor and the other unemployed and imprisoned. Both fall in love with the same girl, with tragic consequences.
The video isn’t that great, but the sound quality is good (thanks to kliz9’s YouTube channel):
) Thanks!!! We’ll have to do that again soon. LOL!!!