You, are a funny girl.

I don’t really know what I am going to say about Barbra Streisand, but today is her birthday. We are all getting older by the minute, I’ll tell you. Barbra was born April 24, 1942. That makes her 76 years old. A Taurus, like me. Stubborn, bullheaded, homebody.

Nonetheless. She is older than me too. By a couple of decades.

I liked Barbra when I was growing up. The first film I ever saw her in, was Funny Girl. It came out in 1968. I knew all the lines, to all the songs, in that movie. I still mostly do. Not only the Fanny Brice parts, but the Nicky Arnstein parts too.

By the time I was nine, she had appeared in a slew of movies, which I loved. Funny Girl, Hello Dolly, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, What’s Up Doc?, The Way We Were, and more. I have no recollection of who took me to these films, or how I saw them. But I surely did. Very early on.

The woman could sing. I imagine she still can.

She has said, in interviews, that she is an introvert, and gets terrible stage fright. Somehow, this makes me happy when I hear celebrities say this about themselves. I guess it gives me hope that someday, I will have that very successful, and wildly popular You Tube Channel, I’ve always hoped for.

I heard in another interview with Oprah Winfrey and Amy Schumer, that they are also extreme introverts. They said being around people drains them like-all-get-0out. That’s me too. Most people. Drain-O.

Introverts make up about a third of the population, is what “they” say. But I think we are growing in numbers. People seem to be coming out about it all over the place. There are several celeb-types this way. Candice Bergen, Ingrid Bergman, Helen Hunt, Diane Keaton, Laura Linney, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, and more. And those are just some females. There is Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Johnny Carson, David Letterman and then some.

But none of them can sing like Babs. I am not sure about the Taurus thing though. And, hey. Just for the record, I can’t sing like Barbara either, despite the fact that I know all the words. But that Introvert thing. That thing, I’ll tell you. It gets harder as I get older.

I say to myself, it is funny, girl, how we tend to gravitate to people with similar interests and characteristics. Clamor. I think it is good that we try to see similarities with others, instead of focusing on our differences.

Oh. Some people love to emphasize differences. They propagate things in the opposite direction. The negativity. For instance. Those videos which have been hitting the news this week, from Syracuse University. The ones with the Frat Boys performing skits which cultivate hatred, discrimination, and ignorance about certain groups, like blacks, and homosexuals, and the disabled. Those videos. I just don’t understand it at all. What is the purpose of this hatred? What is the why?

Yeah, it is better to see the good qualities in people I think. Perhaps, even, if we try to see just ONE good thing about everyone we meet. I sure bet the world would spin a little better. And say. Well. Hello, Polly. On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever. Like. The Way We Were. Funny Girl.

Happy Birthday, Barbra. Yes. You funny, introverted, girl.

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“Never stop acquiring the commonsense, it is as good as the knowledge.”
― Amit Kalantri

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“To realize that all people are alike and all are different is the beginning of wisdom.”
― Jeffrey Fry

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“Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may.”
― from a letter in the Works of John Wesley

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