I have been nominated as a candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Man of the Year 2008 campaign. I accepted this nomination because it is my way of contributing to the fight against blood cancers and helping to improve the quality of life of the patients and their families. You might ask why is this fight so important to me? When I was approached to participate, I was Immediately on board. My fraternity brother lost his battle to Leukemia in 1997. While attending Wayne State College in Nebraska a professor and member of the campus community was met with a challenge when her son John, who was diagnosed with Leukemia, we mobilized and held a bone marrow drive, he eventually found a match, but succumbed to the disease at 19 years of age - another life cut short by a dreaded blood cancer. Their brave fight against this disease has inspired me to contribute to this great cause. I want future patients to be able to benefit from patient services that were offered to Matt and John during this difficult time. I appreciate how valuable these services and support are in finding strength to battle whatever odds are against you. We should all be passionate towards finding a cure.

Each year the Man & Woman of the Year honors a Boy & Girl of the year. This year the Society honored Ava Curfman, an eight year old that was diagnosed with Acute Lymphomic Leukemia (ALL) in November 2003. January 12, 2008 was her two year anniversary of being off chemotheraphy! The Boy of the Year, Weston Funk, is a ten year old who on August 28, 2005 was diagnosed with a very rare and deadly form of Leukemia (JMML). His only hope was a bone marrow transplant. Thanks to the kindness of a total stranger, who was a one-in-a-million perfect match, Weston received a peripheral stem cell transplant just minutes before Thanksgiving 2005. This gift truly was the gift of life and today he is living the vibrant life that every child deserves! I recently met Ava and Weston and what struck me about both children was their strength and appreciation of others and life. I ask that you join me in honoring these two children and my friends by helping to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

So here we are enjoying another beginning of the kickball season... my fifth of many. We had our pick-up game tonight to raise awareness of the league and introduce everyone to each other. So far we've got 175 folks and a lot of fun in store. I'm pumped... excited... and energized! I'd like more people to join... do you think you've got what it takes? Join us through kickball.com!

So here I am... partaking in the glory of what as known as an open bar... lovely complimentary hor d'oeuvres... and a two hour wait for bowling.

I must admit, I've fallen head over heals for the vibe at Lucky Strike Lanes... it oozes coolness from every nook and cranny of the establishment. It rises above Vinino, Angel's Rock Bar and McFadden's for entertainment value, but I still can't get over what they charge for bowling if you reserve a lane. I think they have a partnership with Countrywide Bank so you can take a second mortgage out on your home to bowl!

I will admit that they did redeem themselves from the last event I held there - The Big Lebowski 10th Anniversary Celebration on March 7, but the cost is still a factor - but not on this night with an open bar. Getting the VIP treatment helped heal some wounds, but this is the midwest and a group of 14 people paying nearly $200 dollars to bowl for two hours is unheard of. They'll figure it out soon... either through marketing and making folks feel it okay to pay that much or by drastically reducing their prices.

Is it me or was this past St. Patrick's Day in Kansas City overly priced and overly commercialized?

So how did the day unfold? Sans a decent turn out for one of the largest parades in the United States and local drinking establishments foregoing reasonable drinks, they really went a little overboard on price gouging and did little to keep the flavor of St. Patrick's Day in their celebrations this year. So a couple of places that did well... as always, Kelly's had a large number of people make a their traditional stop there; Crossroads KC/Grinders had a great environment, recordBar hosted Rattle & Hum KC's own U2 tribute band; Raglan Road in the Power & Light District was absolutely amazing and O'Dowds did it's best to get a thumbs up from The Bruce.

That being said, I ended the evening at Lew's in Waldo - you know that small community just South of Brookside and the Plaza. I was charged $15.00 at the door and they sold basic beverages at premium prices... all this to see Disco Dick and the Mirror Balls which, I might add, never played any Irish-flavored faire in their set. I was an over-charged, under-appreciated patron that was looking for some St. Patrick satisfaction and I ended up dropping four Jacksons and got slapped in the face with disco to boot! WTF indeed!

Here's a little blog I found concerning John McCain... I actually once repsected the man, but he has since gotten nose deep into the muck we recognize as politics. This is an example of the type of propaganda he put out there leading up to the primaries...

"A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad's central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the Americans' conclusions.

"What are they talking about?" Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. "The security procedures were abnormal!"

The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.

"They paralyzed the market when they came," Mr. Faiyad said during an interview in his shop on Monday. "This was only for the media."

He added, "This will not change anything."

At a news conference shortly after their outing, Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, and his three Congressional colleagues described Shorja as a safe, bustling place full of hopeful and warmly welcoming Iraqis — "like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime," offered Representative Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican who was a member of the delegation.

But the market that the congressmen said they saw is fundamentally different from the market Iraqis know.

Merchants and customers say that a campaign by insurgents to attack Baghdad's markets has put many shop owners out of business and forced radical changes in the way people shop. Shorja, the city's oldest and largest market, set in a sprawling labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways, has been bombed at least a half-dozen times since last summer."

http://blog.qusan.com

It seems as though I'm on a mission... not necessarily a mission "from god" as Jake and Elwood, but more so one to suck the proverbial marrow from life.

"I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
- Henry David Thoreau

A cultural, emotional and physical whirlwind of activitiy has enveloped my life as of late: plays, ballet, concerts, social gatherings... and with them a host of positive feelings: joy, thankfulness, comaraderie, passion... I thrive in such environments and feel my best when engaged with those people and things around me.

My future is pretty much planned out... social activities fill my calendar and people wonder why? Why so much? Honestly, I want to see what I feel spread... I want to see others have fun, expereince new things, and meet new people to enlarge ones circle of friends, to break out of one's shell to welcome others is something like the "tide that raises all ships in the harbor" everyone benefits.

When it comes right down to it: What do you value most in life? Do yo have the time to enjoy life or do the things you own actually own you? Think about it and take the time to explore, discover, experience... because in the end, it may be all you have.

From the Academy Awards to the Razzies… From the Campaigns to the Commercials… From the Evening News to the Late Night Talk Shows… the political bug has taken a bite out of the American social landscape and sides are slowly (but not quietly) being chosen. Why do we always seem to fall on one of two sides?  

Political analysts, pundits, historians, strategists and bloggers all believe they know what's best for the country and don't pull any punches when they start pointing fingers and drawing a line in the sand on where they stand on the issues. "You're either with us, or against us," everyone one of them seem to say or brow beat into any one that would oppose their particular point-of-view.

Honestly, I'm undecided, in fact, I even voted for someone that withdrew from the race when my state held its primary election on Super Tuesday. I've grown so weary of the salvos being fired at one camp or another, about being a radical political activist when the candidate was in high school, or having parents with questionable religious or political beliefs, or when gender or race is called into play… it's tiresome and really hurts this country's chances to have any sizeable turn-out for the 2008 Presidential Election.