10.31.2008

Some Things Make Me Smile

This makes me smile. I'm so jealous that this guy essentially gets paid to travel the world and dance (albeit badly).

--End--

10.28.2008

Happy Birthday to Yous!

Happy birthday yesterday to my brother, Chris! 35 ... woo!

And ...

Happy birthday tomorrow to Joe's brother, John! 35 ... woo!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you ... You look like a (well, you know!)
Love you both ... like brothers. :)

--End-

10.20.2008

Second Verse, Same as the First!

Actually ... even better than the first. This event had more walkers (3,100 starters vs. 2,300) and consequently raised more money ($8.1 million vs. $6.3 million) than last year's. The weather was way more suitable to walking (highs in the upper 50s/low 60s vs. the mid-80s). And I just knew more of what to expect (aka ... I packed better and paced myself more).

Walked all 60 miles again this year. Had one very minor blister I had to deal with starting on Day Two. The medi-tent folks said it was kind of unpreventable and that I'd obviously done some training and self-treated it as best I could. Day One was upbeat and felt pretty good. Night One was cold and bitter and resulted in an even colder morning. Day Two was slow and plodding and both traffic lights and lots of stepping on and off curbs wore us down, caused some pain and crushed our spirits. Lots and lots of layers resulted in a better Night Two which resulted in a fairly good (but even colder) third morning. Day Three felt good ... surprisingly good. No real pain or discomfort at all ... and a moving-as-always closing ceremony.

I haven't yet decided what my 3-Day situation for next year will be. Fundraising is difficult in a tough economy, but I'd like to give it a try. I kind of want to crew for one of the walks in the summer, before school starts. And then if my fundraising goes well enough, I'll also register for a walk. If fundraising goes poorly ... I don't know. My brain is too mushy right now.

I've posted a bunch of pictures with captions in a web album, but here are some highlights.

Dana Fantini and I on Day One...still very happy.

Being greeted by schoolchildren along the route is always a highlight.


Our row in the City of Tents (we had Lot I-86)

The Sneaker Salute for the breast cancer survivors as they walk in is a Breast Cancer 3-Day tradition.

--End--

10.15.2008

One More Time, with Feeling!

This Friday morning I'll begin my second 60-mile journey to help raise awareness of breast cancer. I'll be warming up (with a few thousand of my dearest friends ... and a few of my actual friends ... Go "Blister Sisters!") at about 6:30 a.m. in front of the Willow Grove, PA Mall. We'll hoof it about 22 miles that first day before making camp. Two more days of walking will bring us to Closing Ceremonies at Villanova University, Sunday late afternoon.

Send good weather prayers and no blisters/pain prayers my way all weekend. I'll definitely need them! (bouquets of flowers, gift certificates for massages and ... a pitcher of maragaritas wouldn't go amiss by Sunday and Monday, either)

Thanks in advance!
--Heidi

ps. Not sure if I'm going to do this again next year. Fundraising in this economy is a difficult thing, and I don't feel I can afford to dedicate my entire summer to training year after year. So, this may be my last 3-Day (for awhile).

10.10.2008

Feeling Snarky

I know this is politically incorrect and not fact-checky and not my usual cup of tea. But it's late, I got little sleep and I'm feeling like sniping at the conservatives* tonight.

Pulled these from here.

--If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
--Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential 'American story.'

--Similarly, if you name your kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
--Name your kids Trig and Track, you're 'colorful.'

--If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African American voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.

--If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.

--If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are 'extremist'.
--If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man-made, you are 'strongly principled'.

--If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
--If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years with whom you are raising two beautiful daughters you're 'risky'.

--If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you 'First dog.'
--If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you 'beautiful' and 'courageous.'

--If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
--If you teach responsible age-appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

--End--

*If you're a conservative reading this, considered yourself warned. And please know that if you're a friend of mine that I understand you have your own viewpoint; I respect you for it. Furthermore, I'm sure you could cite just as many examples in reverse. Feel free to do so on your own blogs.

10.06.2008

Like Riding a Bike

When I was a kid, I helped out with my local PBS station's annual fundraising auction. I started out running bids, then working the phones. Eventually I was actually on camera, selling the items (think QVC, only 8 items at a time sold auction style in 5-10 minutes).

I was hooked! Right then and there I changed my plans from majoring in English and going to law school to ... journalism, communications; being on, in, and around TV!

I majored in Communication Arts: Mass Media at Allegheny and even did a year of my Master's in Film & TV at Temple. But that's it. That's as close as I came. And through several jobs and careers later, I'm thrilled and in love with my career path in teaching.

But, Saturday it all came crashing back. I worked on a live charity auction, broadcast on local cable. The theatre company I'm in is helping to raise money and awareness to restore our local old-run-down theatre, the Levoy.

An out-of-town friend in the media biz wanted to see my clips, so I edited the four-hour broadcast into just the bits I was involved in (still an hour and a half). You can go here to download a pretty small wmv file. Fileflyer says there's a limited number of downloads, but I don't know just how limited that is.

The Station GM gave me his card and took down my info. Says he's going to call me do to interviews and voice work. He even emailed me right after the broadcast, too. Nice guy. We'll see.... could be a nice sideline.

So, there you go. The TV bug has re-bitten me. Hopefully it can be assuaged with theatre for awhile. :)

--End--

10.05.2008

Ahhh....This Explains a Lot!

And this, here, would be why my friend Mark and I can't get agree on anything political. Love you anyway though, Mark!

You are a

Social Liberal
(61% permissive)

and an...

Economic Liberal
(18% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist










Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test


--End--

10.01.2008

Reconnecting Rocks!

...or rawks, if you're, you know ... 14. ;)

Loving being back in touch with high school and college friends (and family members!) on Facebook. It's so easy to Twitter a quickie update or send a message or just peruse their latest news feed.

Of course I'm now spending an inordinate amount of time Tweeting, sending messages and perusing news feeds, but ... that's a whole 'nother post.

--End--