Happy Birthday Trannies...

Two of my favorite people were born on this date. Two people who I hold to the highest esteem and whom I would do anything for. Two wonderful individuals who have stood by me, through thick and thin. Two talented beings who will go on to do amazing things with their lives. Two people who I have been through hell and back with. Two people who have carried me through my worst, and have celebrated with me at my best. Two people who have taught me the importance of laughter and loyalty. Two people who I consider my best friends, life-long, in fact. Here's to you!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!

Not the Little Woman You Think She Is

The novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott has always been one of my favorite classics. To many readers, like myself, Alcott is synonymous with her most famous character, Jo March, the spirited sister in the beloved tale. In all actuality, she was quite different. The March family in Little Women was not wealthy, as they lived in genteel poverty. But the real Alcott family lived in dire need.

From the time she was young, Alcott vowed that she would see to it that her family would not be poor. Just after she turned 11 years old, she wrote: "I wish I was rich, I was good, and we were all a happy family this day." The high-mindedness of the fictitious March family contrasts starkly with Alcott's real-life motivations. She was extremely driven, in large part, by the desire to not be poor. She said, "Money is the means and the ends of my mercenary existence."

Louisa also had a very interesting relationship with her father, Bronson Alcott. His friends included the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Despite his distinguished associations, however, he never managed to have the drive to properly support his family, and life-long bitterness from Louisa soon followed.

Another fascinating aspect of Alcott's life was that she worked as a nurse in the aftermath of the bloody Battle of Fredericksburg during the Civil War. Upon leaving for this call of duty, her father told her that he was "sending his only son to war." Alcott's Hospital Sketches was based on this dreadful but fascinating experience she had.

Louisa May Alcott created a life for herself based on her wants and needs, rather than expectations of society, and eventualy became hugely successful, making hundreds of thousands of dollars (multi-millionaire status in those times). Alcott eventually died of what historians believe to be lupus-related illness in Boston at the age of 55.

Though many readers will always associate Alcott with the sweetness of Little Women, her true legacy (and possibly Jo March's as well) is really about the empowerment of women and girls around the world.

In her own words: "I'd rather be a free spinster and paddle in my own canoe, embody the spirit of many who lead the women, and serve as a variation of a woman who wants to live a fulfilled life."

The Aquarian Exposition...

Today is the 4oth Anniversary of the legendary Woodstock festival. Something deep down tells me that in my previous life, I was one of the love soldiers of 1969 who attended the historical event: celebrating love, peace, and music.

Woodstock 1969 is to this day, the most historic music festival in history. It marked the height of a peaceful counterculture revolution. Woodstock sent a message to the world just before the intense wave of dissent washed back to sea. Embodied in this music festival is an entire set of ideals which are just as prevalent in today's society as they were in forty years ago.

Woodstock marked the peak for hippie counterculture. The ideals of peace, love, and expansion resonated throughout the country, and the world had little choice but to pay attention when 500,000 supports of these ideals met in the 600-acre farm where Woodstock was held. The long list of musicians, which would shape the history of the art, is unparalleled.

The Woodstock festival which manifested by a splatter painting of random events and freak occurrences, will forever be solidified as one of the most important events in the cultural history of America. The wide-legged, tie-dyed, glazy-eyed spectacle that was Woodstock changed the history of rock and roll and exemplified an entire era.

A Perfect Ten...

The amazing Eunice Kennedy Shriver was a devoted mother, wife, grandmother, sister and aunt who taught by example and with passion; what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to others. She was a guiding light in an often stormy sea.

Inspired by her devotion to her family and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of every human life, she worked without ceasing - searching, pushing, demanding, hoping for change. She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power. She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more.

She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy. Eunice scores a "perfect ten" in my opinion, and will continue to inspire me in the work that I do each day working with disabled youth. A true hero, Eunice's legacy will live on in the hearts of the world.

"Special Olympics athletes are spokespersons for freedom itself - they ask for the freedom to live, the freedom to belong, the freedom to contribute, the freedom to have a chance. And, of all the values that unite and inspire us to seek a better world, no value holds a higher place than the value of freedom."

~Eunice Kennedy Shriver~

If You're Happy & You Know It...

Today, August 8th, is "Happiness Happens Day". It is a day intended to spread sunshine and smiles everywhere you go, to everyone you meet. As hokey as this may sound, it has some merit to it. I truly believe in manifest destiny: what you imagine and believe to happen, will. For example, if you wake up in the morning and think/meditate/pray for good things to come, they will. It is your choice to wake up on the "wrong side of the bed" and determine your destiny for the next 24 hours of your life.

Being the positive and optimistic person that I am, this naturally comes pretty darn easy for me. However, I have had days that I CHOSE to wake up on the wrong side of the bed...and nothing good ever came from it. And then there were the days where I had no cash left in my wallet, halfway to work my gas light came on, and knew I had to go to visit a dear friend in the hopsital immediately after work. On this particular day however, I CHOSE to smile and look on the bright side of things. The result was incredible: I won $250 on an old Lotto ticket I had not yet scratched off, gas prices dropped 12 cents that day, and I found out that my friend had no more detectable traces of cancer in his body!


So I ask you, for today (on annual HAPPINESS HAPPENS DAY), to wake up on the "right side of the bed", smile proudly at yourself when you first look into the mirror in the morning, and think about the simple things that you can do today to change someone's life for the better. It will come back ten-fold and happiness will surely happen to you in return.

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves."
~James M. Barrie~

I am now, and will forever be, a Duckman...

John Hughes

(February 18, 1950 – August 6, 2009)



Dear Mr. Vernon,

We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us...In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, an athlete, a basketcase, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question?

Sincerely yours,

The Breakfast Club

POP! Goes the Weasel...

Today is the birthday of my all-time favorite artist, Andy Warhol. A central figure in the pop art movement, Andy actually got his start as an illustrator. He is most famous for his wonderful brightly colored silkscreen images of cultural icons such as Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and of course, Cambell’s tomato soup cans. He also made several films, collaborated with many musical giants such as The Velevet Undergound, and served as a mentor for other visual artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, among many others. Although highly controversial, Andy is widely recognized as one of the most influencial artists of the 20th century.

One day I will own my own piece of authentic Warhol. My buddy Kim and I are soon taking a trip to Pittsburgh, to visit Andy's grave and also to explore the Warhol Museum (http://www.warhol.org/). But for now, I leave you with some of my favorite quotes from this highly original and unapologetic genius:

"People need to be made more aware of the need to work at learning how to live, because life is so quick and sometimes it goes away too quickly."
~Andy Warhol~