A Couple of Things…

Syd for a quick visit while I was on the air.

Syd for a quick visit while I was on the air.

Mostly I like to have my blog be uplifting and not depressing, but lately, there are a number of downers going on not including Syria or Miley Cyrus.  So I will start with something up:

1. I’m eternally grateful that it takes so much more energy to hate than to love. Love is easy. Hate is work.

2a. Another friend dealt the cancer card. That’s just fucked up. She’s still in shock and is now facing a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.    K, you guys, this is it. Clean tissue. Health. Vitality. Mock it up. See it. Feel it. Be it. We can do this!!

2b. According to the National Cancer Institute, one in eight American women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Get those mammograms ladies.

2c. Of course men can develop breast cancer as well, but you don’t get the luxury of your insurance (if lucky enough to have it) to cover annual exams. So you’ll have to do due diligence and do those self exams which are so much fun!  Or better yet, have your wife or girlfriend do them for you.

3. Self proclaimed Christians who have no love and tolerance for all beliefs and lifestyles are amongst the scariest people I know. Just saying.

Gus exposing himself at the Central Park Zoo

Gus exposing himself at the Central Park Zoo, June 2009.

4. Sad to hear that Gus was euthanized this week at the Central Park Zoo.  He was 27 years old.  The average life span of a polar bear is 20.7.  He had an inoperable thyroid tumor and his health had deteriorated.  Sydney and I got a real up close view of Gus on our last visit to New York City.

5. My dog Sammy has been staring at me a lot recently. This worries me. She’s a senior citizen and may be having lapses in memory. I feel like she’s reaching out to me waiting for me to help her, but it’s probably more like she’s wondering who I am.  She use to jump up the moment my feet hit the floor in the morning and follow me from room to room, and she’d be at the gate waiting for my return.  Now she sleeps in and she’s sitting on the couch and when I get home.  But she’s there, and I love that she still demands my lap before retiring for the night.

6. I recently saw a post about how life is hard, but if you eliminate expectations and replace with a little bit of gratitude, maybe that’s enough.

That post made me sad.  Life is about creating and making the most of it.  Sure be grateful, but be satisfied because you’re living life to the fullest!  Don’t expect others to make it happen.  You need to make it happen.  Be responsible for your happiness!  Be grateful for that!

7. But I do admit that I get a little tired of the “Grateful” posts on Facebook.  After a while, I’m like, “SO FREAKIN’ WHAT!!! Who cares what you’re grateful for…unless of course it’s for the perfect lemondrop martini.

8. I’m too outspoken.  I say what is on my mind.  I use to have a filter, but the older I get, the more I blurt out what’s just sitting there.    On the upside, I won’t have regrets of things left unsaid.   Both bad, and good.

9.  From my “Little Did They Know” file:  I use to nurse Sydney while I was on the air.  🙂

10.  Have you never seen the Honey Badger video?  Do yourself a favor and check it out because, “Honey Badger don’t give a shit!”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg

Me and Kat Merrick

Me and Kat Merrick

11. Happy Birthday to Kat Merrick.  August 29 is her birthday.  She’s one of the hardest working women I know working to improve conditions in her community.  She loves her family, treasures her friends, and knows how to have a real good time!  I admire & adore her and am pleased as punch to call her my friend!

12. From my “Favorite Facebook Posts” file:  “I decided if you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.”  – Catherine Aird

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

Highlight: Scuba Diving

Highlight: Scuba Diving

1. I finally got back on the basketball court again after being ill and thought I’d ease back into it.  But between Rage Against the Machine, NIN & Linkin Park on the headphones, it’s pretty hard not to go full throttle!  They’re the best medicine; felt great to be back!

2. Call me goofy, but I get super excited when someone I like, likes me back.  You know, you make a connection.  And I’m not talking about men, I’m talking about people in general, including kids.  Connecting with good people is about my most favorite thing in the whole wide world…right behind being able to help those who are worthy of help.

3.  And just so you know, I know many people who don’t like me.  You can’t please everyone.  And seriously, I do my best to not let it affect me.  But there are a few that I’m determined to win over!

4.  And please don’t accuse me of seeking praise because I do love it when someone likes me and I made a special connection.  You would be mistaking praise for camaraderie!  Sociability is like an elixir for me! It cures all ails!  I really do love social-personality people!!!

5. It’s my birth week and I’ve decided to start dancing again!  It’s been way too long since I’ve gone out to dance.  It may not be pretty, but I’m having a blast!!

6. Kat Merrick and I had a short discussion last night about the exchanging or the no exchanging policy of birthday gifts between friends.  I like that a lot, because if the truth be known, I never remember what I got for my birthday, but I always remember where I was and who I spent it with.   A good time is the best gift!

7. I don’t worry about dying.  I worry a tad bit about how it will end, but not that this lifetime will end.

8. I’ve had more than one’s lifetime worth of experiences – here are just a few highlights (PG 13 Version):

  • Body surfing and building sand castles on hot summer days
  • Nailing water skiing on one ski, FINALLY
  • Going to my first rock concert: The Rolling Stones 1971
  • Having my high school crush call me out of the blue!
  • FINALLY graduating high school, and with honors
  • Continuing, by choice my education
  • Nailing algebra in college
  • Surviving my teens
  • Turning 21, FINALLY
  • Flying down the ski slope, completely out of control
  • Broadcasting trip to England
  • College trip to New York City
  • New Year’s Eve in Time Square
  • Seeing David Bowie in the Elephant Man on Broadway
  • Seeing Tim Curry & Ian McKellan in Amadeus on Broadway
  • Getting that very first full-time radio job offer
  • Falling in love
  • Being proposed to…a few times
  • Accepting a proposal
  • Getting married
  • Honeymoon in Kuaui
  • Buying a home
  • Finding out I was pregnant
  • Holding Sydney for the first time
  • Earning my program director stripes in radio
  • Live radio broadcast at Sea World, Disneyland and Catalina
  • Learning to scuba dive
  • Driving a speed boat full throttle, catching air, along Pierpont Beach
  • Behind the controls flying a twin engine airplane over Lake Casitas
  • Being flown in a aerobatic plane doing stunts over Camarillo
  • Mardi Gras in New Orleans
  • SXSW and meeting Trent Reznor
  • Receiving a Platinum Record from 311
  • Meeting Gavin Rossdale
  • Taking Sydney when she was a tot to Disneyland
  • Taking Syd & carload of pre-teen friends to Magic Mountain…riding rollercoasters
  • Launching a national music & entertainment magazine as editor-in-chief
  • Dinner party with Danny, Richard & Jenna Elfman
  • Shooting Pearl Jam, Collective Soul, Bush, Everclear, Better than Ezra, Sugar Ray, INXS, Third Eye Blind…
  • Getting my braces off, FINALLY
  • Vacation with Sydney Rose to New York City; getting lost in Central Park
  • Cougars winning basketball CIF championships 2011
  • Hitting my very first three-pointer!
  • Sydney Rose coming back home
  • Being served dinner by firemen in uniform.
  • Band Practice!

9. So when I think of the few low points in my life such as losing loved ones or my divorce, all I need to do is look at all the highlights and reflect what an awesome time I’ve had!

10. I’m ready to take on yet another year of living it up!

11. From my “Favorite Facebook Posts” file:  “To me – old age is always ten years older than I am.” – John Burroughs

Thanks for listening!