A Beginning

Starting a blog might be a horrible idea. Lord knows I already have to write enough for the two papers I'm blessed to have a job at, but somehow ... I still want to do this. We'll see if this fever lasts.

I don't really know what sort of blog this is going to be yet, but I can guess it will probably be haphazardly placed observations about almost anything under the sun.

In that spirit, our first topic: Oprah.

I've always been an unashamed fan of Ms. Winfrey, even if she does occasionally feel the need to talk about her "va-jay-jay" on national television. Really, I'm reluctant to say anything negative about her because she could buy and sell me 100 times over and still have millions.

What I really love about Oprah is not her talk show, XM radio station, or magazine ... it's her role as Sofia in the Academy Award-winning "The Color Purple." The "You told Harpo to beat me" scene ranks comfortably ensconced at No. 3 in my all-time favorite movie scenes.

I watch that movie every MLK Day to celebrate self-help. If "The Color Purple" teaches us anything, it's that perseverance and tenacity pay off.

Learn to fight back like Sofia does. You may end up in indentured servitude to Dana Ivey for a while and have the crazy beaten into you, but you make a noise.

We could all stand to be a bit more like Sofia ... or Oprah herself. Let's not forget she's the woman who single handedly took on the cattle industry and took them down, not to mention the kerfuffle with Hermes. The Big O's not afraid of scrapping, so we shouldn't be either.

Life's too short not to fight for what you truly believe in, to protect and defend whatever small amount of happiness and life you've managed to carve out for yourself.

Cliff Rule #32: Learn how to fight back. Oprah calls that empowerment.