Runninngg...

Running is cool...and here is why...


1.) It lightens up the mind and firms up the muscles.

2.) It's about the journey, not the end.

3.) It's a great way to listen to all of the music on your Ipod.

4.) It's better than an alarm or shower for waking you up (still doesn't beat coffee though).

5.) You can run with someone and not say a word and feel a connection.

6.) You can run by yourself and feel a connection to the rest of the world.

7.) You get a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

8.) It's a great way to enjoy a sunrise or set.

9.) You get to explore new places (remember a road you have never taken is a new place).

10.) It gets the heart and blood pumping.

11.) It allows you to receive selective temporary amnesia because you forget your troubles.

12.) You feel alive.

12.5) It's just damn good for you.

Just run baby!

The power to move

I've always known it was powerful. It's able to move you without a moving truck. It doesn't have an engine but it can take you places you once were or never been. It's a timeless time machine with no gears or gadgetry. It means one thing to me...and another to you.

What is it?

Music.

I have been in radio since I was 15 or 16 (thanks to Cindy Leighton...more on that in another blog) so I have always known the power of music. It can bring you out of a mood or put you in one faster than you think. Sometimes all it takes is one note and you are there. Sometimes its the lyric...sometimes its the instrument. No matter what it is...it packs a wallop. I didn't know though how powerful until tonight.

Three years ago, my Dad died. The funeral home did a wonderful job on creating an everlasting memory. They made a memory DVD that played during the visitation. Whenever I need my Dad (and that's often), I play the DVD. Underneath the pictures, is a musical score. Don't know the name or the artist but when I hear it, I always think of my Dad.

Tonight, I was at a visitation of one of my friends' moms. It was the same funeral home that my Dad was in. I walked in and felt a sensation but not an emotional one. It was a deja vu kind of feeling...one that may accompany you anywhere. As I was standing in line waiting to see my friend and his father, I heard the music. Immediately, I teared up and thought of my Dad. It was the music that took me there. Not the sights, smells, or touch...but the sound of the music.

I realized tonight what a wonderful power music holds.

It's the power to move.

PS; The picture on this article is one of my Dad holding my newborn son Jack.

PS #2; Some of my favorite artists that move me for different reasons (in no particular order) are Buffett, Marley, Dylan, Armstong, Simon, Bocelli, Sinatra and Martin. Who moves you?

If you can't find me...

Calico Jack's.

Just the name of it oozes freedom and randomness. It's a hole...but it's a hole on a beach. It's Buffett and Marley wrapped around Zen. It's a place where spirits are shared and secrets are bared. It's where you make a fool of yourself...but don't be a fool. It's Jack Keourac, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean or Benjamin Braddock cool. It's a place where you can go and start off alone and end up at a table of ten. It's where your tab runs high one day and then everybody else is buying the next. It's a place to clear the mind and cleanse the soul. It's where advice is free...and lacking attitude. It's a rare find...but you see it everywhere. Decompress? When you walk in you completely forget to compress in the first place. It's a slice of heaven...that looks kind of like hell. Conversation? Always. Smiles? Everywhere.

It's my little Utopia.

If you ever can't find me for awhile...look it up....I will probably be there.

The bar stools are ungodly high...

...but the climb is worth it.

Curly gets it

Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?
[holds up one finger]
Curly: This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit.
Mitch: But, what is the "one thing?"
Curly: [smiles] That's what *you* have to find out.

Curly got it. I was 23 when "City Slickers" came out. Even though I was already married and a father, I didn't get what Curly was trying to say. I kept waiting to find out through the whole movie what that "one thing" was.

It wasn't until several years later that I got it. That one thing is defined differently for everyone. We are all born with a natural pilot light. Usually something happens to us personally that lights the fire. It could be something that hurts like hell when it happens but in the rear view mirror becomes a blessing or it could be something that is a true blessing to begin with.

Look inside yourself and find that inner light. Ignite the spark! We all know people who always have that spark and it is great to be around them. We also know people who never get out of the dark, who are dying on the inside and just letting life happen rather than living it. Which group of people do you enjoy being with more? More importantly, which group are you in?

Anybody got a light?

Thanks Curly!

Do you want the Corona or the beach?

The ultimate goal of advertising is to create (or exploit) a desire for a specific product or service and lead that consumer to action. Advertising puts the person in that Lexus....dressing in that Armani...or shaving with Gillette. The person can imagine themselves using the service or product. Once you can envision it, you can live it.

I really think the one advertising campaign that gets it is Corona's TV campaign. My "happy" place is on a beach, with the sun and waves splashing all around, a good book in my hand and a drink in the other. I have been there many times but I go there in my mind even more and the drink I associate most with that picture is Corona (Dirty Bananas, Red Stripes, Margaritas also work but Corona has the top rung on my ladder).

I want the beach...but I have to go through Corona to get there.

It's all about the mental real estate, baby!

God, I wish I was there today.

What's up with blog, dog?

You know...I think I owe you an apology. I prematurely blogged! My first blog (although highly cathartic* for what I was going through at the time) should not have been the first blog. Second or third...but not the first. I need to answer the question...

"What's up with blog, dog?"

Let me give you some background. I have always found writing highly thearaputic. It makes me think...takes me away from my problems and gives me reasons to smile (regardless of my mood).

It started in school but really hit its high water mark after I left my first wife. I started writing a book entitled "The Single Weekend Warrior." It was basically about the trials and tribulations about trying to fit back into the singles game while parenting my daughter. There were such award winning chapters like "They say when you fall off the horse to get back on but what if the horse is a zebra?" and "At least I got a futon out of the deal."

As time went by, that book went by the wayside and I started others. One was entitled "The Summer of '85" and another was entitled "Green 21." Both started....never finished.

Every once in awhile, I like to email some friends regarding what's happening in the local sports scene. A really good friend of mine (Brother Jake) encouraged me at the time that I should start a blog because he enjoyed my reading. It occurred to me that if I start a blog, I no longer will disappoint myself with failed attempts at a whole book because each blog is kind of like its own book (or maybe chapter but at least there is closure).

So there you be....that's what up with blog, dog.

Fo shizzle

*Remind me sometime to tell you my observations regarding catharsis.

Fork in the road decisions

In life, there are moments in time where we need to make a decision between two choices. At that moment and on the surface, both choices seem to be valid and both have merit. One may appeal to more people, but one may affect the right people. One may be logical in nature and one may be emotional. But there is always a clear cut "right" choice. The problem is that we won't know which one was right until after the decision is made. Ultimately, the wrong choice is made. Can't take it back. You wish you could though. So now what? Come to grips with the consequences (every choice has them), move on and learn from it. That's all you can do because once it's in the Cosmos, you can never take it back.


I wish there were decisions that were more like spoons or knives in the road. They seem like they have easier answers.