The Power of Change

Tonight is the season finale of The Biggest Loser. Even people who haven't watched previously understand that this show is about the contestants making extreme changes to their lives. Not only do they lose weight but many of them become different people, turning their backs on the unhealthy lives they once lived in favor of eating right and getting more active. They go through a lot of mental change as well as physical.

But how do you get there? How do you get to that place in your life where you're ready for a life change? Because I contend that without being in that "right place" no real change can be made.

I've been in that place. I've made a life change that while difficult and painful, was ultimately all things good. It probably saved my life. (I left an abusive ex.) But it took a lot of hard, uncomfortable years for me to get there.

Have you ever made a big change in your life? What did it take for you to get there?

Happy Whatever

Yeah. Whatever. New year in da house. Whoop-de-freakin-do. Seriously, I'm over it. 2008 was too long and 2009 is getting on my nerves already. Have a parade, why don't you?



You know, it's not that I can't think of positive things coming in this shiny, sparkly new year. Sure I can. But I've gotta be honest. This was a lame changing of the calendar for me.

First, where were all the cool year-in-review shows? I have a bajillion cable channels. What was on? A Monk marathon (seen them already) and History Channel's Seven Deadly Sins (done them already) series. Um. Hello? Where were the celebrity scandal specials? Where were the top 10, bottom 10 count-downs? What the heck???

Second, the year ended with me parted from my beloved, who had a stomach virus and then strep throat. Since I have no immune system we could not be together. He is exiled to Cambridge, with me mired in a foot of snow in Green Harbor, and half our stuff between a rock, a hard place, and Nova Scotia.

Third, I haven't accomplished my goals for the last year and everyone is making lists for the new one. There will be no resolutions for me. I'm not done with the last set yet.

So 2009 is here. I'm stuck in to-be-continued.

Talk to you next week, k?

History Comes Knocking

How do you avoid getting excited about a presidential race that, FINALLY, looks a lot more like America? Whomever prevails in November, we are living in astonishing times. An African American is the nominee for the Democrats and a woman has been nominated as the VP pick for the Republicans. I'm tingling!

Think about it... hard on the heels of the anniversaries of both the 19th Amendment being passed and Dr. Martin Luther King giving his "I Have A Dream" speech, these two Americans have emerged to stand in the spotlight of history.

And so, regardless of which party takes the White House in this election, we will be making history. In January the nation will finally-- FINALLY!!-- be represented by either a black man as president or a woman as vice president. Change is coming. There is no longer a wimp-out option. The bigots of the country must be flipping out. We've nailed the back door shut!

Come on... you don't have to even have political opinions to get goosebumps. It's just plain AWESOME!