it's getting WARM around here

a mighty wind is blowing
and the temps are dropping
but tomorrow morning at 6 it's gonna be WARM.
tune in to hear me play the part of guest host on WARM 101.3 with Tony Infantino.

also friday at 6am...
fun fun fun.....

call to action

I just found out that the Sock Monkey is not a member of the National Toy Hall of Fame.
My friends, it is time to act.
Go to the Strong Museum of Play website www.strongmuseum.org and nominate this ambassador of good will to his rightful place in toy history.
That's what this democracy of ours is based on, the power of the vote.
Straps and i thank you for your support!

p.s If a box and a stick can make it into the Hall, nothing should be able stop our mighty Monkey!

chill

factoid:
i was born on election day in 1960.
this year election day falls a few days before my birthday and i have a big pre- b-day wish.
i am emotionally invested in the outcome of this race.
one side effect of this political intensity is that i completely lose my sense of humor and get all wound up from mid Oct. till the results come in.
after watching my friend squeeze the hell out of her Incredible Hulk doll while watching one of the debates, i realized that i too needed some kind of anti-stress implement.
i bought George (also known as "Straps")about 2 weeks ago and don't know how i lived all of these years without a sock monkey.
when the goin' gets rough, i rub his ears, and oddly, relief seems to come.
7 bucks at CVS in case you're interested.
cheaper than talk therapy.
no side effects like drug therapy.
old school charm.
highly recommended chill tool.

Political junkie

Politics are my sport.
Debates are my Super Bowl.
I get so cranked up for these things..even though I know pretty much what they are going to say ..and not say.
I watch and hope for a few knockdown punchlines, a few major gaffes here and there..
or best case scenario, a trainwreck.
I know that this is serious stuff, and i am passionate about my beliefs, but i get swept away in the drama of it all...
So it is with relish that i look forward to tomorrow night.
A few friends, a few snack items, nerfballs, and nerf guns to fire at the TV when the spirit moves us to do so.
Does it get any better than this?

Good Morning Rochester

If you ever saw the movie Stand By Me, maybe you remember the part about the Barf-a-rama. If you do, then you have a good visual of what my life has been like for the past 5 days.
Despite that, I was able to get up and get my butt down to the studio of WARM 101.3 to sit in for a while on the morning drive show with Tony and Kristie. Besides feeling like i was going to pass out, being nervous, and wondering what the hell might come out of my mouth since i seem to have a hard time controlling it, all went surprisingly well. lucky for me, everyone there was a professional , they were great people, and they of course did all the heavy lifting.
the studio was breathtaking...17th floor with windows looking over the sunny morning city. i have such a love of radio, and it was such an honor to be asked to sit in. more than ever i have respect for these people that get up at insane o'clock and are so energized and smooth. Tony asked me to jump back on when Kristie is out on maternity leave. this was one of those surreal days.

oBLOGation

I've learned a lesson.
never blog just because you haven't written in a while.
a friend of mine commented that he wished i would update my blog.
that night, tired and uninspired i banged out a half hearted entry.
the next morning at work, he said to me..
"you know how if you have a bugger hanging out of your nose, you'd want someone to tell you?
well, your last blog entry was really weak."

he was right. i knew it.
i was so happy to be on the receiving end of such honesty.
it's rare.

lesson learned.
if you have nothing to say, don't try to say it.
i just happily deleted the old entry.

yesterday i attended the funeral of a close friend's wife.
besides feeling the sense of loss and grief and finality, it really made me do a review of my own life. mostly i was confronted with all of the mistakes i have made and all of my shortcomings.
i wish i had a delete button for those things and cleaning up my life could be acheived as easily as editing a blog.
i am so grateful for the people in my life that love me unconditionally
and care enough to tell me when i've got a bugger hanging out of my nose.

garbage picker lottery/ curb enthusiasm

the other day while looking out my kids' bedroom window, i saw my neighbor carry out a hotshit bookshelf to the curb.

it looked like it was from pottery barn or crate and barrel or west elm.

all i knew was that i wanted that thing. ( i know, thou shall not covet thy neighbor's goods..but it doesn't say anything about covetting thy neighbor's trash).

before i could even make a beeline for it, some lucky son of a b pulled up, opened the back of his SUV, and picked up MY shelf.

dang.

a few hours later i was talking with a pal of mine that had stopped by about how i wanted to feng shui the heck out of my living room.

when i walked her out to her car, we spied a tan micro suede chair and matching ottoman on the curb.

"let's go" she said. "we're getting it".

"are you sure this doesn't break some law of garbage picking etiquette?" i asked.

"we're getting it !" this girl was fired up.

we went over and i stretched out on the thing. Nice. Real nice.

minutes later the chair was mine.

next the neighbors brought out two more bookshelves.

"i don't know..."..i looked at my galpal.

"we're getting them too!".

we dragged both shelves onto my lawn.

jackpot!

my living room got an instant make over just like they do on those decorating shows on cable..or at least i've been told since i don't actually have cable.

the only thing i'm going to be watching now is the curb..like a hawk..

who knows what other goodies may be headed my way.

i'm hoping that they'll upgrade their tv soon, so i can snatch it up and watch the Home and Garden Network from the comfort of my newly feng shuied living room.

my across the street neighbor has been leaving me updated voice mail messages about anything new that appears on the curb since she has a better vantage point. gotta love that.

p.s. the stuff looks much better in real life than in the photos..i can barely pull myself out of that room now.