1.  It seemed to me that time stopped when I received the news that my only daughter, Sydney Rose, had been in a pretty bad car accident in another state where both airbags were deployed.   Even though it could of been much worse and no one was severely injured, I felt completely helpless.  Her car was substantially damaged and understandably, she was in tears.  My motherly instincts cried out to coddle and protect, but I had to be the strong one, calm, cool and collective, to walk her through it, albeit, long distance.   I’m proud to say that she has come through the incident with flying colors.  I, on the other hand, grew a few more gray hairs.

2.  I’m excited to say that I was asked to write a column for the Ventura Breeze about what’s going on with music here in Ventura.  How cool is that?  I get to write about whatever I want and promote it as Ventura Rocks!  What a privilege.   See: www.VenturaBreeze.com

3.  I think it’s really terrible when someone does not accept an apology. Of course the apology has to be sincere and the person trustworthy; so there are circumstances where not doing so is warranted. But I confess that this has happened to me twice in my life, and trust me, it doesn’t feel good.  Thank God neither was family or friend.  One was a work associate, the other a stranger.  I’ll be honest.  Both stung.  But now that I look back, I truly believe that that was their intent, to hurt.  You know, dominate – avoid domination?  So in the end, I guess I actually won, because neither would have been a good friend to have in the first place.

4.  I don’t understand why people have conversations on Facebook.  Pick up the phone! Send a text!  I don’t care if you want to have lunch with someone, or you are having lunch with someone or you had lunch with someone. . . that is, unless that someone is George Clooney, then yeah, I’d like to know where too.

5.  WHY Oh WHY do we still call it a “glove compartment?”  I mean I know why it was called that initially, but seriously, I’ve never seen gloves in anyone’s before.   I think the only solution is finding an old pair of gloves and putting them in mine.  I think that would make me happy and “at one” with my car.

6.  Another local newspaper, the VC Star, wrote an article recently about the price of gas dropping.  They reported, “The average gas price Friday in Ventura County is $3.79, down a penny from Thursday.”  Is that really news??

7. Henrik Edberg wrote a blog called “Mark Twain’s Top 9 Tips for Living a Kick-Ass Life.” Some of them were obvious, for instance, “Approve of yourself.”  But others, not so much.  Like, “Release yourself from entitlement.” He says, “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing.  It was here first.”
Another one I know quite intimately, “If you’re taking a different path, prepare for reactions.”  But my favorite is “Don’t focus so much on making yourself feel good.”  He adds, “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”

Amen brother.

8.  Going to a luau on Maui was about one of the goofiest things I’ve ever done.  If you can’t embrace being a tourist, I don’t recommend attending one.

9.  When I saw one of my favorite local venues, Squashed Grapes, advertise Jazz Punks last week, I HAD to check them out.  Jazz and Punk?  I was so in.  I’m happy to report they freakin’ rocked! I bought the CD, I bought a t-shirt.  DO NOT MISS THEM the next time they come around. . . which is November 15 at Amigos.    www.JazzPunks.com

10.  There are certain movies when they come on TV, I must stop and watch:  Stranger Than Fiction, The Green Mile, Fight Club, A Few Good Men, Independence Day, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Field of Dreams, While You Were Sleeping, Bull Durham, Finding Nemo,   Not all chick flicks by the way.

11.  From my “Favorite Facebook Posts” file:  “I would take a bullet for you…not in the head, but like in the leg or something.”   – Unknown

Thanks for listening!