i just wanted to share this with you all because it's very important to me.
6 years and 9 months ago, my close friend christine was diagnosed with leukemia. she and her husband tommy and daughter kailey had just started their lives together, and suddenly, their world was falling apart.
if you've been reading this website, you know all about it.
the day i got the call was undoubtedly one of the worst moments of my life. nothing was right. nothing was fair.
after trying every sort of treatment possible, christine had her bone marrow transplant operation - basically, her last chance. the operation was a success, although the recovery was long and painful. going through life with a reforming immune system is tough enough. doing it with a one-year-old daughter in a house that's being completely fixed up was another. but she got through it.
throughout it all, she's been brave and upbeat. and she's transitioned from being one of my closest friends to being one of my heroes. hell, she inspired me to run the phoenix marathon in 85 degree heat in her honor in an effort to raise money for the lymphoma and leukemia society. she was the first person i called when i crossed the finish line. we were both crying. she was happy. i was in pain, but happy nonetheless.
and as her immune system got stronger, she began getting her life back.
today, november 12th, 2008, is the five year anniversary of her bone marrow transplant.
that means that my close friend christine is cured from cancer.
she beat it.
christine is cured from cancer!
i'm crying as i type this, but she beat it.
i just wanted to share that with you all.
but don't take my words for it. here's care for christine for the official announcement.
much love to everyone.
now go out and celebrate.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
how i owe you a bunch of links
this post is powered by the blind crossdresser i saw at the BART station, which made me wonder if he even realized that he was dressing like a woman:
i'm sure you've seen this before, but some guy posted an ad for his car on the bodybuilding.com forum, and the pictures included "sexy" photos of his girlfriend, who is everything but. just read all the pages of comments and responses. some great stuff in there.
the practice phone call on last week's "the office" was probably the funniest three minutes they've created. this season, they've completely raised the game.
our "lebron's DNA" feature debuted on nikebasketball.com. it's first of what's seemingly an endless stream of content we're creating. also check out our shoe feature, "the story of the six".
also, my friend steve dildarian had his animated series "the life and times of tim" premiere on HBO a couple of weeks ago. check it out if you're into the type of show that'll make you laugh your ass off. if you don't believe me, reminisce about the budweiser lizards and ferret commercials. and then take into account that he wrote them. so yeah, you bet your ass this is funny.
and last, but not least:
i voted "no" on proposition 8 in california, which means i am for gay marriage. honestly, if two people love each other, shouldn't they have all the same rights as every other couple? shouldn't they be entitled to the same happinesses that we all experience without hiding it? i think they rightly deserve it.
however, sadly, my state voted "yes" to outlaw gay marriage.
my first instincts is that though i deeply disagree with the result, it is the will of the people, and that is that. but it really strikes me as wrong. and that got me thinking about the history of social issues, from women's suffrage to civil rights, and how if they were left to the will of the people, we'd still be where we were a hundred years ago.
so i'm changing my mind on how to approach righting this wrong, thinking that a social issue you believe in is worth fighting for, no matter what the majority of the populace decides is correct. let the courts decide this, i say.
what am i getting at? here's keith olbermann's take. normally, i find him more entertaining than informative and far too extreme to take at face value. but there's nothing in his speech that i disagree with. he's dead on about this, and so am i.
i'm sure you've seen this before, but some guy posted an ad for his car on the bodybuilding.com forum, and the pictures included "sexy" photos of his girlfriend, who is everything but. just read all the pages of comments and responses. some great stuff in there.
the practice phone call on last week's "the office" was probably the funniest three minutes they've created. this season, they've completely raised the game.
our "lebron's DNA" feature debuted on nikebasketball.com. it's first of what's seemingly an endless stream of content we're creating. also check out our shoe feature, "the story of the six".
also, my friend steve dildarian had his animated series "the life and times of tim" premiere on HBO a couple of weeks ago. check it out if you're into the type of show that'll make you laugh your ass off. if you don't believe me, reminisce about the budweiser lizards and ferret commercials. and then take into account that he wrote them. so yeah, you bet your ass this is funny.
and last, but not least:
i voted "no" on proposition 8 in california, which means i am for gay marriage. honestly, if two people love each other, shouldn't they have all the same rights as every other couple? shouldn't they be entitled to the same happinesses that we all experience without hiding it? i think they rightly deserve it.
however, sadly, my state voted "yes" to outlaw gay marriage.
my first instincts is that though i deeply disagree with the result, it is the will of the people, and that is that. but it really strikes me as wrong. and that got me thinking about the history of social issues, from women's suffrage to civil rights, and how if they were left to the will of the people, we'd still be where we were a hundred years ago.
so i'm changing my mind on how to approach righting this wrong, thinking that a social issue you believe in is worth fighting for, no matter what the majority of the populace decides is correct. let the courts decide this, i say.
what am i getting at? here's keith olbermann's take. normally, i find him more entertaining than informative and far too extreme to take at face value. but there's nothing in his speech that i disagree with. he's dead on about this, and so am i.
Friday, November 07, 2008
how i'm proud and shameful of this reply
this was my reply in an e-mail string about presidential athletes. i got halfway through it and couldn't turn back and had to finish it. i'm posting this because it could possibly be the most ridiculous thing i've written in a long long time:
from steve:
i think i would enjoy playing on the same squad with obama. after all, he's a redistributor.
from what was written in the history books, martin van buren was a big-time flopper that got under everyone's skin. rumor has it that andrew jackson wanted to slap the shit out of him during a game of 21 for calling a charge. supposedly, jackson yelled, "nobody, not even a dirty, low-down, slavery-hatin' carpetbagger, would have the audacity to call a charge in pick-up! but you, sir, have sunk even lower!" and not even that was able to stop van buren from doing it thrice more. jackson was loading his bayonet before daniel webster subdued him.
it's true.
from steve:
i think i would enjoy playing on the same squad with obama. after all, he's a redistributor.
from what was written in the history books, martin van buren was a big-time flopper that got under everyone's skin. rumor has it that andrew jackson wanted to slap the shit out of him during a game of 21 for calling a charge. supposedly, jackson yelled, "nobody, not even a dirty, low-down, slavery-hatin' carpetbagger, would have the audacity to call a charge in pick-up! but you, sir, have sunk even lower!" and not even that was able to stop van buren from doing it thrice more. jackson was loading his bayonet before daniel webster subdued him.
it's true.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
how i got to share an amazing experience with my son
last night, at 9 PM, i took my son into my arms, sat on our couch and watched barack obama's acceptance speech with him.
it was an amazing experience. obama represents so many things to so many people, but the one thing that any american, democrat to republican to independent, can admire is how, despite everything he had going against him, he was able to be elected by people of every race and age to the highest office our country offers.
this is a man who grew up the son of a kenyan immigrant and a white woman, whose father ditched him early, who grew up poor, a man who was named barack hussein obama. it's safe to say that this man had zero chance of ever becoming president.
but still, this is a man who worked his way into columbia university and then harvard law and then edited the prestigious harvard law review, a man who eschewed big money law firms for public service, a man who rode a wave to the top powered by listening, thinking and accepting others, a man who has become the most inspiring and transformational figure in this generation, a man who forced a populace to finally look past the color of skin and just see a person who is our best choice to lift our country back up.
he's a man who overcame everything to rise to the highest level. he stands for that greatest american trait, that you can become anything you want to be.
but, although that's always been said, it's never really been true. all of our presidents have been white and rich and been given every opportunity to succeed. it's true for them, but not really for the rest of us.
but now, we have a president who is black and grew from a very modest background and made the very best with what life threw at him.
today, that great american dream is a great american reality.
and here we are, father and son, watching president elect obama, and i've got tears in my eyes. because, for my son, just one month into his life, every single door is now open for him. there's no reason why he can't achieve anything he wants. if barack obama can do it, if this man who had nothing can achieve everything, then so can my son, who begins his journey with love, support and a family that will do everything for him.
i can't wait to see what he'll do with it.
go get 'em, wyatt.
it was an amazing experience. obama represents so many things to so many people, but the one thing that any american, democrat to republican to independent, can admire is how, despite everything he had going against him, he was able to be elected by people of every race and age to the highest office our country offers.
this is a man who grew up the son of a kenyan immigrant and a white woman, whose father ditched him early, who grew up poor, a man who was named barack hussein obama. it's safe to say that this man had zero chance of ever becoming president.
but still, this is a man who worked his way into columbia university and then harvard law and then edited the prestigious harvard law review, a man who eschewed big money law firms for public service, a man who rode a wave to the top powered by listening, thinking and accepting others, a man who has become the most inspiring and transformational figure in this generation, a man who forced a populace to finally look past the color of skin and just see a person who is our best choice to lift our country back up.
he's a man who overcame everything to rise to the highest level. he stands for that greatest american trait, that you can become anything you want to be.
but, although that's always been said, it's never really been true. all of our presidents have been white and rich and been given every opportunity to succeed. it's true for them, but not really for the rest of us.
but now, we have a president who is black and grew from a very modest background and made the very best with what life threw at him.
today, that great american dream is a great american reality.
and here we are, father and son, watching president elect obama, and i've got tears in my eyes. because, for my son, just one month into his life, every single door is now open for him. there's no reason why he can't achieve anything he wants. if barack obama can do it, if this man who had nothing can achieve everything, then so can my son, who begins his journey with love, support and a family that will do everything for him.
i can't wait to see what he'll do with it.
go get 'em, wyatt.
Monday, November 03, 2008
how i'm taking a redo on "echoes, silence, patience and grace"
last year, i purchased and jumped into the foo fighters' newest album and, to be honest, didn't really like it. i thought it was schmaltzy. too sentimental. boring. it sounded like a band that just ran out of things to say.
alas, it won a grammy for best rock album, further reinforcing my original ideas that this album just didn't have it.
but i've been listening to selected tracks recently, like "the pretender" and "statues", and on my work trip away from the first lady of steveohville and the boy of steveohville, and i decided to give it another take.
and i like it so much more.
and that got me thinking: the album didn't change, but in the past year, i have. and where i was once hardened and critical i am now softer and sentimental. i miss my family right now. and as i listened to the foo fighters on the plane, i just wanted to be home. dave grohl and the gang helped bring me there:
Wish I were with you but I couldn't stay
Every direction leads me away
Pray for tomorrow but for today
And all I want is to be home
All I want is to be home
then again, when you write something like this, sentimentality is a way of life.
alas, it won a grammy for best rock album, further reinforcing my original ideas that this album just didn't have it.
but i've been listening to selected tracks recently, like "the pretender" and "statues", and on my work trip away from the first lady of steveohville and the boy of steveohville, and i decided to give it another take.
and i like it so much more.
and that got me thinking: the album didn't change, but in the past year, i have. and where i was once hardened and critical i am now softer and sentimental. i miss my family right now. and as i listened to the foo fighters on the plane, i just wanted to be home. dave grohl and the gang helped bring me there:
Wish I were with you but I couldn't stay
Every direction leads me away
Pray for tomorrow but for today
And all I want is to be home
All I want is to be home
then again, when you write something like this, sentimentality is a way of life.
how there's an endless supply of reasons why i love my city
and here's the latest:
measure R is about renaming the oceanside water treatment plant in the city of san francisco.
to what, you might ask?
why, the the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
oh hell yes, i'm voting yes.
measure R is about renaming the oceanside water treatment plant in the city of san francisco.
to what, you might ask?
why, the the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
oh hell yes, i'm voting yes.
how i'm back sorta
and by back, i mean i have fifteen minutes in between feedings and feel like typing.
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