Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: Who Are you? Part 2–The Grown Up Meme

Part 2: Growing Up

15. How would you describe your childhood in general? A mixed bag. My adolescence sucked, so I guess it all depends on how you define "childhood."


16. What is your earliest memory? Playing outside the cottage my family was vacationing at for a week in summer. I was rolling around on the grass and came face to face with a toad.


17. How much schooling have you had? 13.5 years


18. Did you enjoy school? No


19. Stop and count, Since you were born until today; how many homes have you lived in? Four. I HATE moving. Packing, unpacking. UGH!

20. While growing up, did you have any role models? Ann Marie from That Girl. JBKO, of course.


21. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family? They're why I said my childhood was a mixed bag. I got along with my mom and one set of grandparents. My older sister was pretty jealous of me. My dad and I clashed. The other set of grandparents was unpleasant for me. I got very lucky in the aunt/uncle department.

22. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A teacher. A singer. A newspaper reporter. A veterinarian. A translator at the UN. Depends on which day you asked me.


23. What were your favorite activities 3 years ago? Reading. Going to the movies. Farting around on the internet.


24. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display? I was loquacious and generally pretty cheerful


25. As a child, were you popular? I made friends easily.


26. When and with whom was your first kiss? David, the older boy who lived three doors down.


27. Describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today. The 1960s had a tremendous impact on me.


28. What’s next? I don't know.

 

Greetings from the 47%

Thank God for Medicare!

Since my mom's passing in mid-September, I have written about how expensive her funeral was ($12,000 -- and it was by no means elaborate) and the problems we have had accessing her personal assets. My mom was not a wealthy woman. She had only about $10,000 at the time of her death. I do wish she had life insurance. Even a $5,000 policy would have helped us now.

But you know, she enjoyed her money in her lifetime and ultimately I think that's what it's for. I wish she had planned things a bit more wisely, but I'll get through this.

What I would NOT have gotten through are her medical bills, if she hadn't had Medicare and Medicare Part B.

Another bill came today. $1,050 for the ambulance ride from the nursing home to the hospital. It was a tough one to review because it was in the ambulance where my mom actually died. However, I filled in her Medicare/insurance information and know I'm not responsible for that bill.

Or the ones for her x-rays and diagnostics. Which are separate from the bill for her two-week hospital stay. My mother got exceptional care, and it didn't cost us a cent.

She had also been hospitalized in March of this year for the same ailment. The care she got that time wasn't as impressive, but that's due a variance in the quality of the hospitals, not of her Medicare coverage.

Had it not been for Medicare, I'd be looking at bankruptcy right now.

I'm not kidding.

MY finances are in order. I have too much debt, it's true. But I still have a stash to cover 7 months' of expenses in case I lose my job and a retirement fund and a little "household emergency" account. (My "rainy day" fund is gone, but that's OK because if this doesn't qualify as "raining," I don't know what does!) The raise I got at this time last year -- only the second pay increase I've received in 8 years -- went to pay for my long-term care insurance. I have made mistakes and could do better, but MY finances have been, by and large, handled responsibly.

Yet if it had not been for Medicare (and Medicare Part B -- a very good investment at $2,500/year), my mother's hospitalizations would have bankrupted me.

When Mitt Romney talks about the 47% of Americans "who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them," he's talking about me.

I don't have a family of my own to support. But imagine if I did! I have friends who are also dealing with tuition costs for their college aged children as well as saving for retirement. Without Medicare, a family crisis like the one precipitated by my mom's health would have been damaging to two generations.

I took care of my mother in life. I paid that $2,500/year for Part B out of my own pocket. I paid for her snow removal and gave her money for little extras every month. Of course I did. She was my mom and I loved her.

But my point is this -- I spent $300/month to care for my mom. I was a responsible daughter. I did not just leave her to "the government" to care for. Neither did my younger sister. She and her husband did repairs around my mother's house to keep it comfortable for her.

And yet, without Medicare, this past year would have bankrupted me.

What is happening to me could happen to you. It's happening to people all over the country right now. We are the 47% Gov. Romney speaks of so insensitively.

This is why I am voting for Barack Obama, and recommend you do, too.

16 days to go

Just made 15 calls on behalf of the President to registered voters in neighboring Iowa. Most people have Caller ID, so I got many answering machines.

Only one person out-and-out told me she was voting for Romney (or rather, "You don't want to know who I'm voting for") and one told me she was uncomfortable telling me who she was supporting.

But three told me they had already voted, and voted for the President! Yea!

I am not the most dedicated Obama supporter. I'm not crazy about the way he handled Simpson Bowles, or the BP oil spill, or his late and rather tepid embrace of gay marriage. That said, I am proud of my home-town hero and still support him and was happy to do my part in this close election. I intend to do more.

But the political "chickenhawks"* out there do depress and frustrate me. They are the rabid Obama supporters who trash talk Mitt Romney in the most personal and wholly unconstructive way possible, but can't go to barackobama.com and sign up to phone bank. (Here's an article from the Wisconsin Obama team that explains how easy it is. If you're interested, you can do it from any phone in any state. Just go to barackobama.com for details.)

The political conversation in this country is already too coarse. While I cannot imagine an eventuality that would ever EVER find me voting for Mitt Romney†, you will never EVER read anything from me that's disrespectful about the man, his faith, his patriotism or his family.

It's easy to sit around and bitch. It's only slightly more difficult to go to barackobama.com and phone bank from your own home. All it takes is a willingness to get off the sidelines and use your anytime minutes.

* Chickenhawks is an old Vietnam term for people (like Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and Dan Quayle) who were four-square in favor of that war ... for someone else to fight.

† As a lifelong Kennedy girl and a longtime supporter of Sen. John Kerry, I admit I have a near-freakish knowledge of MA politics for a Chicagoan.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: The End of the Innocence

1) "The End of the Innocence" is one of Crazy Sam's favorite songs. Do you like it? Loathe it? Or is it before your time? Amazingly, Sam and I completely agree on this one. :) I love this song. Whenever I hear people rhapsodize about Ronald Reagan, I remember these lyrics about "the tired old man that we elected king."

2) Obviously Don Henley was a smoker back in the 1980s. Do you smoke? Are you a former smoker? Or did you never start? Never smoked

3) Childhood is generally considered an innocent time. In what town did you spend yours? A small town about 20 minutes west of Chicago.

4) Do you abide by "innocent until proven guilty?" Or did you come to your own, pre-trial conclusions about famous defendants like Casey Anthony and OJ Simpson? I judge, and rather harshly at that. Casey Anthony -- guilty. OJ Simpson -- guilty. Scott Peterson -- guilty. Drew Peterson -- guilty. Have I forgotten anyone? That said, I can't imagine how difficult it must be to be a juror on a high profile case and have people like me criticizing how they handle the responsibility.
 

5) Is there an old TV show whose cast you'd like to see reunite? Kate and Allie. I'd love to see their friendship now that they're grandmas.

6) Do you know how to ride a horse? I did know how, when I was a little girl. But it's been decades since I've ridden.

7) You're ordering ice cream. Cup or cone?  Cup

8) Do you believe a gentleman should help a lady with her coat? I don't care

9) Which search engine do you use most often? Google. I'm not crazy about Bing and I've kinda forgotten about Yahoo, until someone asks me a question like this.

That whole "horse to water" thing

More than once, back in early August, I recommended that my newly-unemployed best friend talk to a career coach. I reasoned that he hadn't been happy at his last job for a very long time, and rather than just grasp at a similar position because it's familiar, he should get some outside perspective about his job search.

Yesterday he told me about this "new and different thing" he just tried. He met with a career coach! "I think it would be good to have someone really help me get some focus and clarity for myself and a career. In looking over my career, I don't think I ever really picked what I wanted to do, opportunities came-up and out of obligation I took them."

I just smiled and told him what good news it was.

For the Troops

Just sent a box of 5 paperback books and some notepads to our soldiers serving in Afghanistan. I wanted to make sure the people at Operation Shoebox have enough time to receive them, put them in holiday stockings, and get them overseas in time for Christmas.

It's a wonderful feeling, helping the young people who so bravely serve. You can help, too! From their homepage:

Currently we are in desperate need of travel sized hygiene products for the troops. If you have any you would like to donate, please send it to us at: Operation Shoebox, 8360 E. Highway 25, Belleview FL 34420. Thank You!

I promise you: your day will be brighter and your holidays will be happier if you pitch in.

 

THURSDAY THIRTEEN #193

13 POPULAR HALLOWEEN CANDIES

According to Peapod.com, the online grocery site, here's what little ghosts and goblins are most likely to get while trick or treating this year.

1. Kit Kat Miniatures

2. York Peppermint Patties

3. Fun Size Snickers

4. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures

5. Dove Promises Silky Smooth Dark Chocolates 

6. Fun Size Butterfingers

7. Fun Size Milky Ways 

8. Fun Size Twix Cookie Bars

9. Heath Bar Miniatures

10. Fun Size $100,000 Bars

11. Almond Joy Snack Size  

12. Werther's Original Butter Candies

13. Fun Size Nestle Crunch Bars 

#5 sounds very tempting. Good thing I'm too old for trick or treating!

For more information about 

the Thursday Thirteen,

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The veil is lifting

The last three months have felt very unreal to me. First the ghastly heat. My best friend has been distracted and troubled by losing his job. Then my mother's illness, and finally her death. Then the morass of her finances and all that's landed on me. I've been sleepwalking through it all, trying to navigate through a fog of sadness, fear and uncertainty. Sleeping erratically, eating too much, gaining weight.

I am feeling stronger. I am more in the moment. I am more like myself. I'm no longer "getting by." I'm in my own life again.

I hear my mother in my head. I believe she is happy and whole and with God. I had been dreading her death so much that I hadn't counted on the relief I now feel, knowing that her pain is over and she truly is resting at peace. I loved my mother and the role reversal we experienced -- while very much the natural order of things -- was exhausting for me. I didn't realize it until it was over. I no longer have to worry about her.

I love her and I miss her. I will always love her and I will always miss her. But I no longer have to worry about her. She is where she belongs, with God. And I am grateful.

Agriculturally obsessed

Last night, while watching the second Presidential debate, I discovered Farmville. I'm so busy with my chickens and my goat that I haven't had moment to update the blog. Sorry.

PS Message to BHO: Thanks for showing up for the debate last night.

"The girl wasn't half bad"

That was Babs' self assessment when she went through the vault of unreleased material and settled on the 11 that made it to Release Me, her 60-something-ith CD.

As always with Streisand, I love (LOVE LOVE) some tracks and give a shrug and an "eh" when I hear others. And as always with Streisand, I prefer the less technically perfect tracks and gravitate to the more emotionally real ones. (I think the lady herself values perfection more than authenticity, so she and I often disagree on which are her best performances.)

My favorites on this one are "How Are Things in Glocca Mora?" from Brigadoon (which didn't make it to her Broadway album) and an outtake of "With One More Look at You" from A Star Is Born. I hope she performs these chestnuts (recorded in the 1980s and 1970s, respectively) when I see her in concert NEXT FRIDAY!

And yes, Dear Lady, you aren't half bad. :)

Someone told me it's all happening at The Zoo

Spent a very rainy Sunday with my nephew at the Brookfield Zoo. Despite the intermittent storms, we had a good time, managing to see the lions and a leopard, dolphins, peacocks, primates, otters and a few assorted reptiles. We also stopped at two refreshment stands (at 13, he eats a staggering amount).

It was also good for him to spend some time with me on a Sunday. He used to visit my mother every Sunday and I would join them for Scrabble a couple times a month. I'm going to try to see him at least one Sunday a month -- partly to help him with the mourning process and partly because he's a nice kid and I enjoy his company.

The Missiles of October

It's been exactly 50 years since John F. Kennedy saved the world.

Yes, it was that important. The Cuban Missile Crisis was that dangerous. The President was that heroic and wise.

A decorated Naval hero, Kennedy knew war and never stopped trying to avoid it. And he remained steadfast in his belief that Nikita Krushchev, a diehard Communist, was still at heart a man like him who loved his children and all children and didn't want to see the world blown up by nuclear war. That's why Kennedy so imaginatively gave his adversary a way to both extricate himself from the situation and still save face among his countrymen and political adversaries within the Soviet Union.

President Kennedy celebrated our similarities and our ties to this fragile planet. That's why this is one of my favorite of his quotes:

“All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.” 

 

To paraphrase a comment made by his son and namesake, John F. Kennedy may not have been a good man but he certainly was a great one. God was smiling on us when He put Kennedy in the Oval Office 50 years ago.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: The Who Are You Meme
 
1. What is your biggest pet peeve?  Space hogs. The guy who takes up a seat on the train for his backpacks. The woman who thinks it's more important for her water bottle and iPod to be on the locker room bench than my ass. You get the idea.
 
2. Where and when were you born? Elgin, IL. I was born at the stroke of midnight, which, the hospital told my mother, is not legally acceptable for a birth certificate. She had to choose between 11:59 on the 21st and 12:01 on the 22nd. She chose the 22nd.

3. Where did your parents meet? A rather rowdy party at my grandparents' house, when my grandparents were out of town.

4. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like in four words? Older Sister: Drama Queen. Younger Sister: Rather Spoiled.
 
5. Where do you live now, and with whom? Still in Chicagoland. And I live alone.

6. What is your occupation?  Advertising writer.

7. Write a full description of yourself.  5'2. Green eyes. Short brown hair. Entirely too round.

8. To which social class do you belong?  Middle class.

9. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses? I'm allergic to bee sting and I take meds for high cholesterol.

10. Are you right- or left-handed? Hopelessly right handed

11. What does your voice sound like? Kinda  high pitched

12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?  "The thing of it is ..."

13. What do you have in your pockets? A tissue and a tube of chapstick

14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics? I don't think I'm strange or annoying. Which is not to say others don't. (You should talk to my sisters!)

At least she's not obstructing me

The Evil Older Sister made her way to my mailbox today.

10 days ago I sent her a letter explaining why the first of her get-rich-off-Mom schemes (that we sell our mother's house and make a ton of money) won't work and asking her to sign a letter to the company that holds the reverse mortgage to our mother's house. She returned it in the self-addressed, stamped envelope I enclosed, but she didn't include a check or even a note.

She's not going to pay another cent on our mother's funeral. She's going to stick me with all of it. I keep hoping I'm wrong about her, but she keeps showing me I'm not.

Oh well, at least she's not getting in the way of me and the lawyer I have chosen. Even though she doesn't approve of him.

My kid sister, on the other hand, is incommunicado. This week she was supposed to hire someone to run an estate sale at my mother's house. I have not heard a word from her. I realize this is difficult for her -- it's difficult for me, too.

I wish I had a ME I could dump responsibility onto!

Why, why, why?

Reynaldo is currently singing and destroying my dining room. He wants me to feed him. He has been aggressively making it clear that he wants his dinner (his 5:00 meal) since about 2:30. That means this has been going on for nearly 90 minutes. Bags are dumped over. Photos knocked off the table. My pencil cup is on the floor and its contents all over the place.

He has food in his dish. He just wants to taste his evening dollop of canned food.

If I give in to him, I am reinforcing this behavior. If I don't give in to him, he makes a mess of my home.

He is 8 years old. This is not "kitten behavior."

The other two cats either ignore him or at look at him as though he's disturbing them.

WWJGD? (What would Jackson Galaxy do?)

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Ain't No Other Man

1) Do you believe there's only one person (and there ain't no other) for you? Or do you think we can truly love several partners over the course of our lives? I believe we can fall in love many times. Which doesn't change the fact that one somehow is dearer than the others. Or as John Lennon sang, "Of all these friends and lovers, there is no one who compares with you." (The Beatle reference is an homage to Bud.)

2) Do you have this, or any other, Christina song on your iPod/mp3 player? Nope. Not a fan. 

3) Christina Aguilera won a Grammy for her performance of this song. What do you deserve an award for? And who would you thank in your acceptance speech? I'd like to win an award for my phenomenal weight loss, and I'd like to thank my personal trainer. Only I haven't lost any weight and I don't have a personal trainer.

4) Christina Aguilera has her own brand of perfume. Do you have a fragrance or scent you regularly wear? I wear another celebrity fragrance Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker. She discontinued it, so once I'm finally out, I'll be in search of another signature scent.

5) Do you have any allergies? I'm allergic to bee sting. I have to carry an Epipen with me nine months of the year.

6) There's an older lady who proclaims during a TV commercial, "I will give up beer, bread, wine or soda but I won't give up Life Alert!" No, we're not going to debate her diet. Instead the question is: What are some of the staples that are always on your grocery list? It seems I'm forever buying paper towels. Viva or Bounty. I have three cats and need durable paper towels to deal with hairballs and litter boxes.

7) What's your favorite sitcom of all time? I Love Lucy

8) When it comes to your socks, do you prefer solids, stripes or prints? Solids. Socks with cutesy prints don't look as good with my shoes.

9) At what age do you consider a person "middle aged?"  And when do they transition to "old?" I guess 40 to 55 is middle aged. Then 56 and beyond is old. I base this on the boxes I've seen in online surveys.

 

Unsettled and unsettling

Anthropologists and behaviorists would have a field day wandering from desk to desk at my workplace. No one is especially happy. There's an undercurrent of political intrigue that adds to the grumbling and grousing. Yet suddenly my boss, usually the most sarcastic and jaded of men, is the sunny one. What gives?

Suddenly I feel very old.

"No abnormalities"

So said the letter I received from the hospital after Saturday's mammogram was reviewed. No matter what else is going on in my life, I should appreciate what a big deal that is.

I must remember to stop and smell the roses!

"Remove your coats and belts. Empty your pockets."

That's what I heard about 200 times this morning while waiting to go through security at The Daley Center (home of the Picasso). I was there to file my mom's will. Consequently I have her death certificate in my purse. How weird is that?

Today I also wrote the check to pay off her funeral.

We're inching slowly through the process, and one of these days I'll be able to think of my mother not as a stack of papers or pile of debts, but as my mommy. She was a woman and she had a life, and I hate reducing her to a mere ledger of debits and credits.

Thursday Thirteen #192

13 SAD PET MOMENTS IN THE MOVIES

I liberated this from MovieFone. While I haven't seen all the movies listed here, the ones I'm familiar with did indeed wrest tears from these old eyes. (In fact, I cried while I wrote this. Damn you, Skip!)

My mother, who died just a few weeks ago, watched some of these movies with me when I was a little girl. She believed it was important to learn about the sad inevitability that our pets never live as long as we need them to. Perhaps she was right and these films did help prepare me. But oh, watching some of these felt like open heart surgery!

1. Marley and Me (2008) "You know how we're always saying what a pain you are, you're the world's worst dog, don't believe it, don't believe it for one minute because you know we couldn't find a better dog, I love you, more than anything, you're a great dog, I love you."

2. Dances with Wolves (2000). Oh! Two Socks the Wolf, Dunbar's first friend. Playing with Two Socks is how Dunbar got his Indian name. Two Socks is murdered.

3. My Dog Skip (2000). He was that boy's first and best friend. When Skip died, he was buried in his boy's baseball jacket behind the elm tree. "But," that boy, now a man, tells us, "he really lay buried in my heart."

4. Where the Red Fern Grows (1974).  I never saw this one, and that's OK because I understand two dogs die after tangling with a mountain lion.

5. Old Yeller (1957).  I'll never get over this one! I didn't think it was at all funny but in fact true when Phoebe (Friends) angrily refers to this as "a puppy snuff film."

6. Bambi (1942). That sadist Walt Disney is at it again! "Man is in the forest." Then Mother tells Bambi to run and keep running and then there's a gunshot and ...

7. Born Free (1966).  Has any movie ever had a more beautiful heroine than Elsa the Lioness?

8. Hachi (2009). Akitas are naturally loyal, but none more than Hachi. He waited at the train station for his owner every day to walk back home with his master. Even after his human died, Hachi went to the train and waited patiently ... every evening for nine years. Age, illness, bad weather -- nothing kept Hachi from his hopeful vigil. Based on a true story, the real Hachi became a hero in his native Japan, his loyal heart is celebrated with a statue at the train statue where he waited for his master every evening.

9. The Neverending Story (1984). I never saw this one, but I'm told a horse named Artax sinks tragically into a swamp.

10. Fatal Attraction (1987).  That bunny was a completely innocent victim!

11. I Am Legend (2007). A virus wipes out 90% of New York except Will Smith and a very loyal dog named Samantha. She falls victim to an attack by infected dogs and he had no choice.

12. The Lion King (1994). Knowing that what happened to Mufasa is all part of the Circle of Life doesn't make it any easier to watch.

13. King Kong (any and all versions). Talk about misunderstood! Kong was just in love, that's all.

For more information about 

the Thursday Thirteen,

or to play yourself, click here.

Trifecta

This week's challenge: Using between 33 and 333 words, compose something that includes the third definition of the following word:

DEATH

3 capitalized : the destroyer of life represented usually as a skeleton with a scythe

Halloween had always been Sherri’s favorite day of the year – more even than her birthday. It wasn’t because of the candy, either. Halloween gave her a chance to indulge her dark fantasies. Instead of a Disney princess, Sherri trick or treated as The Bride of Frankenstein or shewolf (think “wolfgirl” instead of “wolfman.”) One year she and her best friend both dressed as cheerleaders, only Sherri was bruised, battered and bloodied – the tragic pom pom girl from Bloody White Line, the cautionary driver’s ed film.

Now, as a woman, she didn’t have a little black dress, she had a closet full. As the local country club’s photographer, she took sunny pictures of golf tournaments and tennis matches, but on her own time she photographed grave markers, tombstones and memorials that captured her fancy.

Sherri still lived for Halloween. This year she donned pantalets, a hoop skirt and period-perfect blouse, with a perfectly round bullet hole. She was Jennie Wade, the only civilian killed during Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. As she pinned her hair up, her head began to throb. Her muscles ached. The light above her makeup mirror suddenly hurt her eyes. Dammit! She couldn’t be coming down with the flu! Not on the most magic night of the year!

She promised herself she’d lie down for just a moment. The nap would rejuvenate her, she was sure.

 

She didn't awaken till the next morning, having missed her holiday altogether. She felt strong but filled with disappointment … and a curiously clear recollection of a vivid dream. A handsome, clean-shaven Union officer sat at her bedside, wiping her brow, lifting her head gently and carefully spooning Golden Elixir (a thick syrup containing alfalfa, willowbark, sage and brandy) between her lips.

Only it wasn't a dream. For as much as Sherri loved Death, he loved her, too. He tended to her and ensured she didn’t join him one moment before her appointed time.

I Want Wednesday

I want to relax. The worst thing I could imagine happening -- losing my mom -- happened. I know I have lots with the house and her estate to deal with, but that will either break in my favor eventually or it won't. And no matter what I do with the house and the "estate" (which is really just a collection of bills, anyway), I'm going to piss off one of my sisters.

I'm going to see Streisand later this month. I'm celebrating with my oldest friend in California right before my birthday next month. I'm spending New Year's in Key West again.

I need to concentrate on the good, let go of the bad, and forget about what I can't fix.

Who's the candidate around here?

I am going to vote for Barack Obama. I have regularly contributed money to Barack Obama. I see phone banking for Barack Obama in my future.

So why do I feel like I'm working harder for, and am more enthusiastic about a second term for, Barack Obama than Barack Obama is?

Yeah, he sucked in last week's debate. And, frankly, I didn't expect him to do that well. He didn't shine in the 2008 debates with Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and John Edwards. (In fact, the one who did best was Biden, so don't sell him short tomorrow night.) But I didn't expect him to be as disengaged as he was. He didn't "not do well." He sucked. That's not the media's fault. It's not his opponent's fault. It's not the moderator's fault. It's Barack Obama's fault. Alone.

And when people remember the DNC convention, who's speeches do they mention? Michelle Obama's. Bill Clinton's. Not Barack Obama's. That surprises me, because our President has proven himself a gifted orator. Yet when millions of people are watching him in prime time, he can't pull out a memorable performance?

Read about the speech Bill Clinton gave in Nevada yesterday. It was awesome. It rocked. It was aggressive but not mean spirited. It had substance as well as heart. The Big Dog conveyed to the audience that this was important … vital … he actually leaped in the air at one point.

Bill Clinton and I want Barack Obama to be re-elected. It's time for Barack Obama to show us he's with us.

Photo courtesy of The LA Times

"They Say It's Your Birthday!"

Here's to you, Dr. Winston O'Boogie. I have been thinking about you today, on what would have been your 72nd birthday.

You are missed.

The silence is disturbing

My best friend lost his job on August 1. When it first happened, he called and emailed me a couple times a day. But for the last month, he's been very quiet.

If I want to talk about my mom, he's completely there for me. But when it comes to him, his family and his job situation, all I hear is crickets.

I fear he's getting depressed. He mentioned once (once!) that he feels "isolated," that people mean well and offer to help but then never call back. Since I want him to know he's not alone, I still email him every day.

More than once on this blog I've referred to him as Eeyore because of his tendency toward melancholy. So I'm worried.

I'm a little in love

I just discovered Pierce Brosnan as Remington Steele. The reruns are on every night on ME-TV. He's not a very good actor, but he sure was gorgeous. I can't for the life of me recall why I didn't watch it the first time around.

This show is a pleasant, swoony little distraction. I was on the road at 6:15 AM, en route to a presentation in my client's offices at 9:00. It went well, but as always there's a bit of tension involved.

The ride back with my coworker Katie was entertaining and interesting. She's young -- not yet 30 -- and hasn't been with us very long, so her insights on our workplace were fresh.

Wrote letters that I owed a friend of my mother's and my cousin. It was hard and tiring. So an hour spent gazing upon Remington Steele was most welcome.