XxAxX said:

LBrent said:

Gurl, join the club.

agree. so far i feel sorry for Mayte. she was played every which way. poor young thing

It's really chilling. Weirdly however, I feel much less sorry for her than I did before reading it...maybe its because she comes over as quite sassy in some ways, maybe because I'm just such a damn sucker for P's romantic schtick.

I don't think we are going to have seperate threads for each chapter. I think this is the thread for all the chapters.

Lovejunky said:

Penny can I suggest that you edit the title of this thread to

My Life with Prince Book Club: Chapter 1

PennyPurple said:

[For Legal Reasons: NO POSTING OF IMAGES OR PICTURES OR CONTENTS FROM THE BOOK, posting the front cover of the book is okay. THE ORG DOES NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THE BOOK OR ANY OF ITS CONTENTS - anyone caught doing so shall be dealt with accordingly - luv4u]

[No flaming, baiting, flinging poo of any sort. Discussion to be held in a civil manner. Remember all rules of the org apply. - luv4u]

**********************************



**********************************


Ok here we go...Chapter 1, Pages 11-29

Talking Points

1. Both sets of Parents

2. The Sister

3. Leg Braces

4. Family Friend

5. The Parents Relationship

6. The Grandparents

7. That's Incredible

.

Ok... GO

NOTE: Here are some rules to follow

Chapter by chapter and hopefully Michelle will create a timeline for each chapter.

Civil discussion, if trolls or flamers enter into the discussion, do not respond and just move on.

We will start the next chapter discussion when the previous one is finished. No skipping ahead.

.

And last but not least:

.

The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince Book Club

1st thread - http://prince.org/msg/5/440423

[Edited 4/5/17 15:30pm]

MTV reference and Flashdance reference, made me laugh. As a teen we loved MTV when it first came out. I've seen Flashdance I don't know how many time. I even went out and bought the cassette back then. I wore that sucker plum out.

PennyPurple said:

I don't think we are going to have seperate threads for each chapter. I think this is the thread for all the chapters.

Lovejunky said:

Penny can I suggest that you edit the title of this thread to

My Life with Prince Book Club: Chapter 1

Ok Fine...

jus thinking people who come late, if you separate the chapters then they could still contribute and things wouldnt get all messy..

but I respect your decision..

I am one of those super organised individuals who tends to compartmentalise everything.

you know....colour code the sock drawer etc..

dont mind me

Lovejunky said:

PennyPurple said:

I don't think we are going to have seperate threads for each chapter. I think this is the thread for all the chapters.

Ok Fine...

jus thinking people who come late, if you separate the chapters then they could still contribute and things wouldnt get all messy..

but I respect your decision..

I am one of those super organised individuals who tends to compartmentalise everything.

you know....colour code the sock drawer etc..

dont mind me

No problem, I just don't think I will be allowed to do it that way.

PennyPurple said:

Lovejunky said:

Ok Fine...

jus thinking people who come late, if you separate the chapters then they could still contribute and things wouldnt get all messy..

but I respect your decision..

I am one of those super organised individuals who tends to compartmentalise everything.

you know....colour code the sock drawer etc..

dont mind me

No problem, I just don't think I will be allowed to do it that way.

Really...?

would make sense to me.....

back to my socks

I can try to find out.

Lovejunky said:

PennyPurple said:

Really...?

would make sense to me.....

back to my socks

jayseajay said:

XxAxX said:

agree. so far i feel sorry for Mayte. she was played every which way. poor young thing

It's really chilling. Weirdly however, I feel much less sorry for her than I did before reading it...maybe its because she comes over as quite sassy in some ways, maybe because I'm just such a damn sucker for P's romantic schtick.

i don't find it romantic anymore. probably cause i'm older, and more aware of sexual psychodynamics in this world. at her age i would have fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

but as i am now, i find i cast a cynical eye on all of those empty promises he made to her, even while he was with other women.

i love that she did at times stand up for herself, but hearing her describe the low pay, and how she spent her savings being part of his group while missing out on the opportunity to develop her own career.... well, i'm not sure that was really in her best interests.

and an employer who does that to his employees, while also being 'romantic' with them.... just yuk. sorry. i still love prince, but feel sorry for any woman caught in that kind of psychological trap by an older guy.

Ok, what we will do when we get to the point of discussing other chapters, is to put the chapter title, which would be 1, 2, 3 etc. in our posts.

Lovejunky said:

PennyPurple said:

Really...?

would make sense to me.....

back to my socks

jayseajay said:

I'm in the UK so going to be late to the party most day...

Anyway, have to rush off to work, but some random first thoughts...

1 I really like the strong sense you get of Mayte as her own artist, and the power she experiences from dance, and how that might have attracted Prince. It makes it clear she was doing very nicely on her own thank you before she met him, and it wasn’t a case of her just attaching herself to his coat-tails. Her genuine commitment to art as a way of life, and to the power of art as a refuge and way of dealing with the world really comes through…something I always find inspiring about P – so much integrity to hold onto that in among all the rockstar frippery - and it makes sense he would chose a life-partner who had the same values and way of being.

2 Also really like the opening passage about the zills, and her use of this whole idea of vibration and resonance, and how that relates to their relationship. I’m kind of agnostic about the whole reincarnation thing…am certainly not closed to it…but that sense of reverberation when you meet someone who turns out to be special, like a tuning fork going off inside you, ‘ahhhh, it’s you,’…that I have definitely felt, and I buy her description of it, totally. Also, that sense of energetic recognition…that’s the main reason he means so much to me as artist…and I think that’s true maybe for a lot of us…it’s not just the music, there’s some vibration in him that just feels really familiar (while also being extraordinary) and that he was incredibly good at communicating…so it makes a lot of sense to me she talks about it in this way.

3 With regard to the dysfunctional family…as people have said, both a sense of connection with him, and also setting her up for having certain expectations and tolerances, which I guess can be interpreted both positively and negatively…maybe she was prepared to put up with stuff other people wouldn’t – as it had been normalized for her to a degree – maybe if she hadn’t taken some of that in her stride, they wouldn’t have ended up married…and who’s to say whether than is something she would change…probably not. One thing that seems very different though, while her family was somewhat chaotic, there is a sense of fierce fierce love, and I never get that from stories about P’s childhood.

[Edited 4/6/17 1:47am]

The senses I get also feel quite different, though both being stories with chaos.
Appreciate your word, "fierce." We know that there can be very strong love in chaotic or dysfunctional families. Really like your words here.

[Edited 4/6/17 6:32am]

[Edited 4/6/17 6:33am]

312131213121 said:

Oh my goodness. Last nite eye read about manuela being the "other woman" and for some reason eye wasn't mad about the fact Prince did it but the fact that manuela would do that to Mayte. if she and Prince knew each other then she should have known he was married and backed off. eye was also really upset when reading the story about "shaking the other girls hand". eye don't know why these stories made me so upset but they really really did.

I think a lot of women do this -- they get angrier at the woman than they do at the man, when it's the man that should be in the most trouble. Yes, women do go after married men, sometimes relentlessly, but the man, knowing he's committed elsewhere, needs to stay firm. Prince himself initiated this. He took what Manuela offered, therefore the failure of the marriage was his fault. I've said repeatedly that I totally blame Prince for screwing up his relationships, because he's the common denominator in all the fails because he could not keep either his eyes or his hands to himself when it came to women. If he didn't want to be monogamous, he shouldn't have proposed a one-to-one relationship with any single woman. You see it all over the org, how the women are attacked for whatever, and Prince's behavior is excused.

Personally, I'm like, "Nope, Prince did that. He got what he asked for." I'm glad Mayte didn't go with the 'beat up the woman' instinct -- that's ridiculous. If a man is anxious to go check out the 'greener' grass, pack his effing bags and call him a cab, lady. Help him leave. You're better off alone than trying to keep someone who wants to go, no matter what lies they tell you to keep you in their stable.

No "dingbat wife" comments yet

XxAxX said:

jayseajay said:

It's really chilling. Weirdly however, I feel much less sorry for her than I did before reading it...maybe its because she comes over as quite sassy in some ways, maybe because I'm just such a damn sucker for P's romantic schtick.

i don't find it romantic anymore. probably cause i'm older, and more aware of sexual psychodynamics in this world. at her age i would have fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

but as i am now, i find i cast a cynical eye on all of those empty promises he made to her, even while he was with other women.

i love that she did at times stand up for herself, but hearing her describe the low pay, and how she spent her savings being part of his group while missing out on the opportunity to develop her own career.... well, i'm not sure that was really in her best interests.

and an employer who does that to his employees, while also being 'romantic' with them.... just yuk. sorry. i still love prince, but feel sorry for any woman caught in that kind of psychological trap by an older guy.

So relate to much in all of this. I'd like to say that the disturbing parts of P keep me from melting when I watch him perform, but ohhhh would I be lying.

I don't want to be judgemental. I don't look at myself as a better person than others. I'm very disturbed by some things I've done over the years. Wish I could go back and change them (thanks, LBrent, for the time machine idea : ) ).

Looking from the outside as a fan/fam, some of his treatment of women (rock star or no -- there's big boy pants just like there's big girl pants) and lack of reasonable pay at times for those working for him (whether he was fully aware of the situation or not), are two very disturbing parts of what went on.

It really stings precisely because he was so very sincere, and often very successful, in lifting women up in a man's world and lifting up artists, and so many other people, financially disenfranchised and ripped off by the suits of the world.

[Edited 4/6/17 7:15am]

SpookyNopetopus said:

312131213121 said:

Oh my goodness. Last nite eye read about manuela being the "other woman" and for some reason eye wasn't mad about the fact Prince did it but the fact that manuela would do that to Mayte. if she and Prince knew each other then she should have known he was married and backed off. eye was also really upset when reading the story about "shaking the other girls hand". eye don't know why these stories made me so upset but they really really did.

I think a lot of women do this -- they get angrier at the woman than they do at the man, when it's the man that should be in the most trouble. Yes, women do go after married men, sometimes relentlessly, but the man, knowing he's committed elsewhere, needs to stay firm. Prince himself initiated this. He took what Manuela offered, therefore the failure of the marriage was his fault. I've said repeatedly that I totally blame Prince for screwing up his relationships, because he's the common denominator in all the fails because he could not keep either his eyes or his hands to himself when it came to women. If he didn't want to be monogamous, he shouldn't have proposed a one-to-one relationship with any single woman. You see it all over the org, how the women are attacked for whatever, and Prince's behavior is excused.

Personally, I'm like, "Nope, Prince did that. He got what he asked for." I'm glad Mayte didn't go with the 'beat up the woman' instinct -- that's ridiculous. If a man is anxious to go check out the 'greener' grass, pack his effing bags and call him a cab, lady. Help him leave. You're better off alone than trying to keep someone who wants to go, no matter what lies they tell you to keep you in their stable.

Couldn't agree more. And I think to sugarcoat or say "it's Prince.org, after all," does a disservice to Prince's brilliance and potential.

Dehumanizing and reducing people to one dimension is toxic. Prince was a genius, and he also may well have been disabled in some social areas. He was a full person with genius and challenges, and he should be viewed with compassion and respect. Same goes for others in his life. Behaviors are shaped by all we bring to this world, and by all of the living we've done before a moment of acting, or not acting, as the case may be. Everyone is accountable, and everyone should be viewed with compassion.

One thing I loved about starting this book was seeing that Mayte is warm, down to earth, sassy and funny. Not at all one dimensional.

[Edited 4/6/17 7:16am]

rednblue said:

rednblue said:

XxAxX said:

i don't find it romantic anymore. probably cause i'm older, and more aware of sexual psychodynamics in this world. at her age i would have fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

but as i am now, i find i cast a cynical eye on all of those empty promises he made to her, even while he was with other women.

i love that she did at times stand up for herself, but hearing her describe the low pay, and how she spent her savings being part of his group while missing out on the opportunity to develop her own career.... well, i'm not sure that was really in her best interests.

and an employer who does that to his employees, while also being 'romantic' with them.... just yuk. sorry. i still love prince, but feel sorry for any woman caught in that kind of psychological trap by an older guy.

So relate to much in all of this. I'd like to say that the disturbing parts of P keep me from melting when I watch him perform, but ohhhh would I be lying.

I don't want to be judgemental. I don't look at myself as a better person than others. I'm very disturbed by some things I've done over the years. Wish I could go back and change them (thanks, LBrent, for the time machine idea : ) ).

Looking from the outside as a fan/fam, some of his treatment of women (rock star or no -- there's big boy pants just like there's big girl pants) and lack of reasonable pay at times for those working for him (whether he was fully aware of the situation or not), are two very disturbing parts of what went on.

It really stings precisely because he was so very sincere, and often very successful, in lifting women up in a man's world and lifting up artists, and so many other people, financially disenfranchised and ripped off by the suits of the world.

[Edited 4/6/17 7:15am]

Yeah, I wish the total dodginess of it which my brain understands was sufficient defense but nah...when he drapes his arms over the mike and closes his eyes and starts making those little whispery moany sounds in the back of his throat...I'm just gone. It's kind of exasperating, but at the same time, I really don't want to be unmoved by it. At all. Anyway. OFF TOPIC. Ahem. Sorry

And your last point, yeah, I think a lot of us struggle with it...I think he did. I think he geuinely and sincerely loved women, and at the same time, he used them as narcissitic supply, and consequently treated them abominably sometimes.

One thing I learned from the book that I didn't know... Prince's ruffly, Edwardian look in Purple Rain was inspired by his appreciation of the movie AMADEUS...which sort of makes sense...

Also, the two Diamond & Pearl girls sound like total bitches!

Lovejunky said:

SpookyNopetopus said:

Actually she was pretty well booked up for her dance career at this stage. Her mom was the business manager her dad drove her where ever she needed to go and set up the sound and video equipment.

.

She knew she didn't want to go to college, dancing was her life and that is what she strived for. She worked very hard and achieved a lot at that young age.

Lovejunky said:

PennyPurple said:

I don't think we are going to have seperate threads for each chapter. I think this is the thread for all the chapters.

Ok Fine...

jus thinking people who come late, if you separate the chapters then they could still contribute and things wouldnt get all messy..

but I respect your decision..

I am one of those super organised individuals who tends to compartmentalise everything.

you know....colour code the sock drawer etc..

dont mind me

Um...I colorcoded my kids.

That way if a kid was arguing over something, if it wasn't their color, end of argument.

jayseajay said:

rednblue said:

So relate to much in all of this. I'd like to say that the disturbing parts of P keep me from melting when I watch him perform, but ohhhh would I be lying.

I don't want to be judgemental. I don't look at myself as a better person than others. I'm very disturbed by some things I've done over the years. Wish I could go back and change them (thanks, LBrent, for the time machine idea : ) ).

Looking from the outside as a fan/fam, some of his treatment of women (rock star or no -- there's big boy pants just like there's big girl pants) and lack of reasonable pay at times for those working for him (whether he was fully aware of the situation or not), are two very disturbing parts of what went on.

It really stings precisely because he was so very sincere, and often very successful, in lifting women up in a man's world and lifting up artists, and so many other people, financially disenfranchised and ripped off by the suits of the world.

[Edited 4/6/17 7:15am]

Yeah, I wish the total dodginess of it which my brain understands was sufficient defense but nah...when he drapes his arms over the mike and closes his eyes and starts making those little whispery moany sounds in the back of his throat...I'm just gone. It's kind of exasperating, but at the same time, I really don't want to be unmoved by it. At all. Anyway. OFF TOPIC. Ahem. Sorry

And your last point, yeah, I think a lot of us struggle with it...I think he did. I think he geuinely and sincerely loved women, and at the same time, he used them as narcissitic supply, and consequently treated them abominably sometimes.

Chiiiiile, you are on a very long line. It's weird though cuz I adore P and can definitely appreciate the sexy and am fascinated by him on so many levels and all, but I've never wanted to be with him romantically or sexually. Confusing, I know. I'm not sure I fully understand it myself.

But anyway...I'm still spring cleaning and I started the audobook again to play in the background of my day.

I'm a glutton for punishment.

Another reason I believe Prince and Mayte "clicked" so well was because of the parallel of self imposed discipline they both took on at an early age, as a direct result of their God given talent. I think they could relate to each other in this way that not many of us can. I too was raised with a child prodigy,(my sister was a professional ballerina) and witnessed this first hand. Although my mother was the direct opposite of a stage mom and did not live vicariously through my sister, she backed her 110%. The entire family either drove from city to city or, after my sister began touring on her own, she was escorted on flights. This drive to be the best at one's talent, when you've got what it takes, is something to behold. I've never seen anything like it before, or since. I found it incredibly comforting and heartwarming knowing that they had found refuge on a personal level between themselves, as they did as well in their prospective careers.

LBrent said:

Lovejunky said:

Ok Fine...

jus thinking people who come late, if you separate the chapters then they could still contribute and things wouldnt get all messy..

but I respect your decision..

I am one of those super organised individuals who tends to compartmentalise everything.

you know....colour code the sock drawer etc..

dont mind me

Um...I colorcoded my kids.

That way if a kid was arguing over something, if it wasn't their color, end of argument.

OMG! Lbrent, that is PRICELESS!!!

Lovejunky said:

PennyPurple said:

I don't think we are going to have seperate threads for each chapter. I think this is the thread for all the chapters.

Ok Fine...

jus thinking people who come late, if you separate the chapters then they could still contribute and things wouldnt get all messy..

but I respect your decision..

I am one of those super organised individuals who tends to compartmentalise everything.

you know....colour code the sock drawer etc..

dont mind me

I know you have good intentions but .......

That will be one helluva lot of threads for each chapter

You just trying to make more work for me

PennyPurple said:

precioux said:

LBrent said:

Um...I colorcoded my kids.

That way if a kid was arguing over something, if it wasn't their color, end of argument.

OMG! Lbrent, that is PRICELESS!!!

Gurl, I was outnumbered...5 kids...aged 5 year old, 2 and a half year old twins and newborn twins.

I wasn't havin all that damned arguing. If you have someone else's color, give it back. Period.

annalizer said:

I love Maytes mama! I didn't understand what term mama bear meant until I had kids. I'm generally a serene person but when i felt my kids were threatened 😳 then Sybil surfaced and my claws came completely out! Aside from both Mayte and Princes normal family communication issues ( do as I say, not as I do), they had good foundations to start with which is telling on how they lived their lives afterward.

LOL!!!! This is MY motto for my mother, not hers...of course

on little things , i.e.

"don't TOUCH the A/C!"(but comes to my house and kicks it down to 65) or

"don't bring food in the den!"...but yet eats happily on my sofa


It is very telling that Mayte would have more fear of her mother's vengence if she had chosen the "cool" name Arabia(?) as opposed to fear of refusing the given name from Prince