I’m not a doctor, and I never even played one on TV. But at least some relatives of mine are getting their star turns.
My cousin Tom’s daughter Jamie just wrapped up her second season as a New England Patriots cheerleader.
(Pro tip for Jamie: stand next to Tom Brady on the sidelines and you’ll be on TV roughly 10,000 times during a game.)
My niece Julia just moved up the TV food chain from Myrtle Beach, SC (#101 in market size) to Greenville, SC (#38) where she is the weekend sports anchor for the NBC affiliate, WYFF.
Last but certainly not least, my cousin’s daughter Erika will be playing the role of Cady Heron in the Broadway-bound musical adaptation of the iconic movie Mean Girls. She’s getting all sorts of kudos for her performance (they had a short sneak preview/tune-up run in D.C., and Broadway previews begin March 12th). You can read more here. And here. And here. Or you can check out the article in the latest issue of Vogue, along with a photo by Annie Freakin’ Leibovitz! NBD.
HT to my sister Jeanne for letting me know about the Vogue article… she’s the fashionista in the family.
I remember going to visit my cousin and her family in Northern California back when Erika was about 6 years old, and she was already performing plays for her family, friends — and house guests like us –on their back patio. (So basically, “I knew her when…”)
One of the characters in Mean Girls is named Damian…
Here’s hoping Erika thinks of me, her old pal and early theater patron, whenever she hears that name.
“You know I couldn’t invite you. I had to pretend to be plastic.”
In my most recent blog post, I made fun of the garish sport coat and bow tie sported by Mr. Clyde McCoy:
Then I realized that I too was guilty of the same sort of sartorial selections:
“It was the 60s… things were different then!”
In fact, on the Severinsen/Sager/Tarlek Scale of wacky outfits, from 1 to Oh-My-Goodness-What-Is-THAT!, Clyde is only about a 5… whereas I’m easily an 8.
Former Tonight Show bandleader. Suit NOT furnished by Botany 500.
Former NBA sideline reporter Craig Sager. Always understated.
Would you buy radio ads from this man?
I’m willing to do one of those “recreate the childhood photo” things that are all the rage on social media these days.
But I don’t know if we can replicate the crazy pattern of my suit, which seems better suited for a great aunt’s couch than a suit.
Werther’s candies sold separately.
Sorry for making fun of your outfit, Clyde. I now realize you were a fashion trendsetter, just like me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to do a bit of shopping.
The other day, I was talking to my buddy Jason, a co-worker of mine. He’s a fellow Xavier grad and we both have season tickets for men’s basketball, so usually our conversations are about rankings and seeds and opponents. But he got deep on me, and mentioned a conversation he had just had with his wife Charlene, where he said “you’re really only yourself up until about age 4, and then again at age 74.” Meaning kids are too young to know better, and seniors are too old to care, about what others think. But in the decades between, we give up our true selves, and worry too much about fitting in and playing by the rules. We let the weight of other’s expectations and societal cues bring us down. We let fear, judgement and shame take over.
This book covers the same territory. Here’s a great quote from it:
“When we spend our lives waiting until we’re perfect or bulletproof before we walk into the arena, we ultimately sacrifice relationships and opportunities that may not be recoverable, we squander our precious time, and we turn our backs on our gifts, those unique contributions that only we can make,” says Brown. “Perfect and bulletproof are seductive, but they don’t exist in the human experience.”
Brown also talks a lot about “scarcity” in American society. We’re conditioned to crave more… a better job, a nicer house, a cooler car, a fatter bank account, more “likes” on social media… in a zero-sum game where we’re constantly comparing/competing with others. She mentions that the opposite of scarcity isn’t abundance, it’s “enough”… as in “I have enough. I AM enough.”
“Worrying about scarcity is our culture’s version of post-traumatic stress. It happens when you’ve been through too much, and rather than coming together to heal (which requires vulnerability), we’re angry and scared and at each other’s throats.”
Man, does that quote ring true in 2018! The solution, which seems counterintuitive at first blush, is to be more vulnerable.
“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.”
“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.”
“The willingness to show up changes us, It makes us a little braver each time.”
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.”
Vulnerability is the best way to connect with others.
“Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. The power that connection holds in our lives was confirmed when the main concern about connection emerged as the fear of disconnection; the fear that something we have done or failed to do, something about who we are or where we come from, has made us unlovable and unworthy of connection.”
The title of the book comes from a Teddy Roosevelt speech in 1910:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails whiledaring greatly.”
Here’s Brené Brown’s TED talk about vulnerability.
The book is well worth checking out. Dare to make it a great weekend!
My named is dubbatrubba, and I’m addicted to the Instant Pot.
It’s a combination slow cooker/pressure cooker/rice maker/steamer/yogurt maker… I think it might even play karaoke tunes – I’ll have to check the manual.
I couldn’t help myself – all the cool kids were doing it, and I succumbed to the peer pressure. Oh, and there’s also the fact that a lot of recipes that used to take hours now take mere minutes. Hence the “Instant” part of the name.
A co-worker was the one who introduced me to it. She kept bringing in her lunches and raving about how good they tasted, and how easy they were to make. Her recipe for lentil chili is killer, dude! Of course, she’s a darn good cook even without the Instant Pot.
Now I can’t go a day without using it. As a veg-head, it comes in very handy. I make a big ol’ batch of black beans every week. I used to have to make them on weekends, because they take 10 hours in the crock pot. Now it takes less than an hour. I’ve also whipped up red beans with veggie sausage, the aforementioned lentil chili, curried lentils, mashed potatoes and a batch of veggie chili. It comes in handy when cooking for my 16-year-old son (the fitness freak) too. He eats chicken for lunch and salmon for dinner every doggone day, and it used to be a laborious process of thawing and baking. Now we can go from frozen to finished in less than an hour. We also use it for brown rice and hard-boiled eggs. And I’ve merely scratched the (cooking) surface of what it can do. Seriously!
I think you might even be able to make brownies, but searching for Instant Pot Brownies might get me busted in Ohio.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m jonesing. I need to go make another meal. Be back in an Instant!
Our 18-year-old leaves his friend’s house to come home. Light snow had melted but then froze into a thin sheet of ice on the main road to our house. It caught folks off guard… and the salt truck drivers must’ve been watching the game instead of hitting the roads.
Our son sees cars slipping, sliding, spinning, careening, crashing into each other like a demolition derby.
At least six cars got dinged. He’s less than two blocks from our house, but it’s enough of a downhill slide to make continuing risky business, especially with a couple of crashed cars up ahead in his lane. He pulls over, hits the hazards and calls home.
“Patience is a virtue, Possess it if you can, Seldom found in woman, Never found in man.”
When you’re 18, the waiting is the hardest part.
But it can also be the smartest part. Wait it out. Call for backup. This too shall pass.
My ongoing quest to clean up the basement continues unabated… other than the weeks when I don’t do anything. A couple of days ago, I found this school project from our youngest son, Andrew, from a few years ago. It’s a timeline of his life:
Walk. Sit on a chair. Go on vacation. That sounds really good. Sign me up.
Kevin Sullivan on Life advice from a man who lived it: “A good one Damian. Bring our lens into focus after the long weekend or our long life journey.” Jul 7, 09:38
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