Rita's Musings

street giant — Products

2010-05-28T14:32:00.000-04:00

street giant — Products
Thought I'd share this place where you can buy sarcastic T-Shirts related to the BP/Gulf of Mexico disaster.
I still get sick seeing the oil spew from the uncapped well under the sea. So much went wrong with the drilling process. It wasted lives, natural resource and will leave
a mark on the coastal communities forever.

Buffalo Garden Bloggers--makes me want to visit!

2010-01-09T16:23:00.003-05:00

I went to college in Buffalo. Now it's become the garden capitol of....well, at least Western NY.

Check out the Garden Bloggers Buffa10 blog and see if you'd like to fly to the Queen City of lake Erie for this event.

When I went to Buffalo State College I loved taking long walks around the grand Victorian era homes that showcased Buffalo's grand past of some 100 years ago. Some of the bigger homes along the parkways of the west side of the city make a person imagine what families were like back then: many, many off spring, needing lots of space to hang out in the summer time, along tree-lined parkways.

What you'll discover when you read some of the blog posts of sister blogs associated with Garden Bloggers of Buffalo is that there is a movement to do away with boring grass, and fill yard space with anything and everything else that blooms and adds color and, if you will, whimsy, to the space. It's a great hobby to have, and like weeds, it seems to be spreading from neighbor-to-neighbor in Buffalo.

I may just have to visit my old college town for this event, while it's in its infancy, this year. But, I think I'm a year too late. Organizers seem have barely let out word about this event and already they've received dozens of registrations from all over the U.S and from overseas. Gosh. This sounds like so much fun.
Hmmm......

Got the Jay-Z Song in my head.

2010-01-07T19:56:00.003-05:00

"Empire State of Mind." Not to be confused with Billy Joel's more bluesy "New York State of Mind."

I am a New Yorker.

Ok. I've lived in Maryland for almost as long as I've lived in New York. But, it's in my skin. It's my identity.

I grew up downstate, went to college in Western NY, got my first job in rural NY, kept getting jobs in the Southern Tier, lived and worked in the Catskills and there you have it.

When I, on rare occasions, drive through NY to visit old friends I feel like I've got an internal compass at work. I don't feel panicky when I make a wrong turn and get lost. I'm OK in NY.

And, that's not even Manhattan.

I love Manhattan. It's a place where I could walk forever. The grid design of the roads is easy to manage. But, I so much enjoy the history of the island when it was still wilderness. It had forest, streams and sandy river beds. It's the one place where man manipulated the landscape for his own comfort. That's above ground Manhattan..where walking around is energizing. The pace is quick. The strides are long.

Anyway...the verse, and Alicia Keyes singing, "In New York" keeps rumbling through my mind.

Be cool.

Posting for posting's sake.

2010-01-07T10:38:00.001-05:00

I have been quite busy with career stuff, and home life stuff. Will write more later!

October 2009: Nell Scovell on David Letterman Hollywood: vanityfair.com

2009-10-27T14:25:00.000-04:00

October 2009: Nell Scovell on David Letterman Hollywood: vanityfair.com

7 Months since my last post---I'm watching the Yankees.

2009-10-25T20:36:00.004-04:00

It's been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog. I've been tweeting and have been keeping those who care updated about my musings that way.

I'm watching Major League Baseball playoffs---who will be the champions of the American League? Well--I don't usually route for the AL. I'm a born MET fan--but, the native New Yorker in me flared up late last week as I turned on the TV and got caught up in the heavily modulated audio of a Los Angeles crowd cheering and then growing eerily silence as the Yanks rallied. And, there's something about that NY logo that just tugged at me. I just couldn't root against it.

I always said that I was a NY chauvinist. Somewhere I have a Polaroid of the NY State license plates that I had on my '87 Hyundai, taken the night before I mailed them back to the DOV in Albany. My husband, at that time, couldn't understand it I think he might get it now. He has the same set of Maryland plates on his car that he's had on all of his cars, since 1985. There's a hologram built into the plates of the date. And, I had to re-paint the letters and numbers black and white out some rusty points last year. It's ok--the lady at the DMV in Silver Spring said it was OK.

So, what's my point? I'm not sure. I suppose I'm writing musings on this lighter fare as writing about H1N1 virus/the Swine Flu is just so, well, so been done before.
It's a worse story than the CDC is leading health departments and others around our country to believe. Women are dying from this illness...pregnant women. The numbers in some states are headline grabbing. But, there's no visuals to support the story. We're not seeing the last breaths of real women like we do of make-believe, fictional characters on TV.

Meantime, I wonder if I'll fall asleep before or after tonight's game at Yankee Stadium ends. I wonder if I'll take a break from the baseball diamond for ABC's Desperate Housewives?

Ciao bellas!

Sadie thoughts...

2009-05-17T20:52:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile since I wrote about Sadie. Since then I've made improvements to our yard, deck and have taken a closer look at her medical records. Guess what? My Sadie was born in 1999. She's 10.
Doesn't look a day over 5.
We're very happy with each other.
If I could I'd take photos of me walking the ol' gal with my three boy-dogs, all at once. We're quite the motley crew walking around the neighborhood.
I think Sadie feels at home after a walk.
Don't you?

DC is the new Hollywood?

2009-03-10T19:59:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week I'm listening to the commercial news radio station in Washington and lo' and behold, traffic was a mess.

No, it wasn't exploding manhole covers in Georgetown, water mane breaks, utility work, accidents, icy road conditions, that jammed traffic. It was road closers as film crews set up cranes, trailers, and heavy machinery.

Have you been watching the TV series "24"? So many images of DC and the White House.

Well, we do have a darn nice capital. And, now's the time to come and see the place, before the rest of the tourists come for spring break and before the Cherry Blossoms pop open, and destroy sinus from Richmond north through Baltimore.

Come while the museums are less crowded than in the summer months, and before the temperatures and humidity make being outside unbearable.

Or, just watch the best of the place in the movies and TV.

But, frankly, we do need your tourist dollars. And, compared to some places, DC is still a bargain of a vacation place to take the kids. So, come to DC.

See you soon!

Majesty and Mythology

2009-01-19T12:16:00.004-05:00

This weekend, today and, I am guessing tomorrow, I'll be continuing to watch all I can, about the Inauguration, in beautiful HD TV. And, I'll continue to think about how great those images portray Washington, DC -- the center of perhaps the most influential democracy/republic this world has ever seen, and will likely, ever see.

I've lived in the DC area since 1989. I've never felt so much enthusiasm from visitors who I encounter who are coming to our area to celebrate the start of a new presidency. I don't know if it's all those high expectations that are polishing the images of DC that I, and viewers around the world, are seeing on TV.
But, dare I say that the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor and the National Mall have never looked so good?

Those words, majesty and mythology of what Washington is all about come to mind once again.

Let's hope that a year from now that spirit is still kicking around the corners and crevices of not only our capital city, but our nation.

Welcome to Washington for the Inauguration!

2009-01-16T09:34:00.004-05:00

The photo is of the back of the guy who offered me his seat on the DC area's Metro rail system two nights ago. I got on the train at the busy Metro Center stop and moved into the center of the car, as instructed by the recording on the PA system. He saw me standing in the aisle, holding onto a rail to keep balance and offered me a seat.

Welcome to DC. It's a place where a lady is offered a seat on a train. The native's won't bite. So, be polite and patient and you'll have a most wonderful time!

Public Servant versus Politician -- Life Imitating Art

2009-01-14T08:04:00.003-05:00

I just joined a social networking group by and for government workers and sub contractors. One blogger on this network wrote of his disgust of reporters characterizing politicians as public servants.

I wrote back to him:

I think I get what you’re saying: It's the difference between getting the job because of a popularity contest and getting to do the job because you meet critical requirements and have necessary skill sets to keep the wheels of your bureaucracy rolling.

I suppose what confuses people is that black-and-white filmed, Hollywood characterization of what it means to be elected to a government post--it's as if....
Jimmy Stewart's portrayal of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" meshes with the character of the community banker of "It's a Wonderful Life." We see these two characters as being tragic fraternal twins: Only these guys are fictitious.

But, what to make of the politicians who work hard, and grow into the idealist's view of politicians as public servants? What of Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Steny Hoyer, Barbara Milkulski and other politicians who I read a lot about and have heard about through the years? What of the politicians who ran for office after being appointed to government positions by Presidents and members of Congress, such as the Janet Reno, Carol Bellamy (who might blanche as being characterized as a politicians)

Sarah Palin made disparaging remarks about Obama for his experiences of personal growth while campaigning for President. Could it be that he was experiencing a metamorphoses of politician to public servant? Why wouldn't we want one of those as our commander-and-chief, or lawmaker?

I'm hoping that next Tuesday more of us in the public decide to become better putlic servants---only we'll call ourselves citizen.

Sounds sappy, but then again--I do like my black-and-white, classic movie channels.
Maybe life can imitate art?

They say change is the only constant...

2008-12-04T09:41:00.005-05:00

I'm still trying to figure out why a change that I have little control over seems to disturb me so. A few minutes ago I learned that my local bank, Chevy Chase Bank, was going to be acquired by a national credit card and loan company that has annoyed me, nearly every day, by their credit card offers.

What is it about a familiar landmark, logo and the comfort of years of doing business with one company being bought out be a firm -- one that I considered preyed on vulnerable consumers and those with poor credit ratings?

Chevy Chase banks are everywhere I do business, shop, work, hangout. I like being able to deposit my money virtually anywhere I go in the Metro DC area.

I know what's in my wallet. I know what's in my neighborhood. The new Chevy Chase Bank I hope, will work hard to keep me as a customer. With all the consolidation of banks, so many firms want my deposits and business, it would be easy to close an account with them and open one with a competitor across the parking lot.

Forgotten War, most loved Veterans

2008-11-30T09:53:00.007-05:00

I work part time at a radio reading service for the blind, which is staffed by volunteers, mostly retired folks, who read for a radio reading service, and a dial-in service, for the blind. They read local newspapers and magazines, report on theater and film reviews, local entertainment and arts functions. I can blog more about these folks later on.

A couple of days ago one volunteer walked in wearing a Korean War Veteran baseball cap. He told me a story after I chirped up, "Hey, my Dad served in Korea too!"

This gentleman made a point of telling me that last year, through the association he belongs to of the 2nd Infantry, he went back to South Korea. He's 80 years old. Fifty years after he fought in Korea he never really had a desire to return to that peninsula where some of the bloodiest battles U.S. soldiers ever participated in occured. He went on to explain that last year the price of the trip was very reasonable, and for just a few hundred dollars more, a trip to Beijing, China would be included--and his wife was very interested in going.

So, he went. And he had the most moving experiences of seeing a country that, when he left it, fifty odd years ago, was like Europe after the 2nd World War, with bombed out cities, and other ruins. Last year what he found in South Korea cities with modern roads that resemble the freeways and highways here in America. He also found highly emotional people, who treated him like the hero that he is. Schools, churches and businesses were alerted to the arrival of this veterans tour group. School children immediately assembled and sang their national anthem and the Star Spangled Banner for these vets. Young restauranteurs picked up the tab for the groups meals. Parish priests, with tears in their eyes proclaimed that South Korea wouldn't be the successful, healthy country that it is if it were not for the Americans.

Well, I went on the web to hunt for photos of Korean War vets, and found a shot of a group of soldiers. I could swear that the guy on the right side of the photo is my Dad. He and Mom have told me that his picture made it in the papers. He was part of a team of that helped deal with Dengue fever, which was epidemic in Korea during the war. Dad had a biology degree, and was transferred, after his tour with an infantry unit, to a medical unit or MASH unit. Very few soldiers went from infantry to a MASH unit. That's why he has both infantry combat rifle medal as well as a medical service medal, as well as pins and ribbons from the government of Korea, New York State and our Country (he was part of a company of Brooklyn boys!)

I've learned, as my father and I have both gotten older, and as I have become an adult woman, that he saw very grusome things in war. He had to dig in mortar launchers amongst the burnt ruins of Chinese soldiers. He was assigned to triage, move the soldiers who weren't going to make it from those who had a chance with medical treatment. As he plainly put it to me yesterday, as dryly as he could muster, "it was very real..." meaning, this wasn't just the movies. My Dad experienced things that others have written about, dramatized, and experienced nightmares about.

I'm proud of my Dad. I hope that one day soon he and Mom go to South Korea and see what happens when Americans intercede for the good of a country, and how this particular country is showing how grateful it is to Americans, and shows it every chance it can. No, not just the politicians and diplomats, but the people in the streets and the kids in the schools. I suspect this is every soldier's dream when they swear to serve to protect our constitution and to follow orders of a commander-and-chief: appreciation from regular people.

I Voted.

2008-11-04T10:54:00.002-05:00

Of course I did.
What's cool is that the 20 year old, whom my husband and I watched grow up across the street from us, also voted. This is his first presidential election.
We all got to the polling place before it opened. He got there a few minutes before us.
When he was done placing his ballot he found us in line and told us with a big smile,
"I'm done!"

So neat!

Counting down to Election Day USA--upgrading my husbands Macs...Sunny Autmn Days...musings.

2008-11-02T22:42:00.005-05:00

Dear blog readers, from across the pond, and here in my country, America.
Gosh. It's been awhile. I just haven't felt comfortable taking the time to sit down, and write.

I must confess, I'm using my husbands iBook and it's working so well. I actually opened this baby up and put in a RAM chip. And, I installed more ram in his iMac--just as my laptop refuses to boot up, probably, because its been overheating. But, still, I'm feeling very good about my handy work tonight.

So, I'm tapping this out on a lovely notebook computer that's being very responsive to every touch my fingers make on this cute little keyboard.

Ok! We're going to have a new President in America soon. Change is going to happen. It might be McCain/Pail or Obama/Biden. OK. To my neighbors going past my house it'll be no surprise. I'm voting Obama/Biden. I've got a sign on my front lawn. I've got my reasons. I won't bore you with them.

But, I'll tell you what -- You vote for whomever you want to vote. G-d bless. Just vote! It'll be different come January 21st. New people will get government appointed jobs. New people will be in a position to hear me pitch myself. "Hey! Hire me! I'm good!"

But, until then, I am helping with GOTV efforts. That's Get Out the Vote efforts for the uninitiated.

To all Americans reading this---get out and vote. Be part of what will be historic voter turnout in the most amazing republic this world has ever seen, in the most amazing times we'll ever be able to experience. Write about waiting in lines and waiting up all night, watching which states went to which guy. (ahem...I'm hoping most will go to "that guy!") Vote. Vote for your ticket. I'll vote for mine. But, vote.

Vote because we've seen those who were exposed to the sins of tyrants, stain their fingers with ink, displaying proof that they cast a single ballot. Vote because ancestors of some of us were told they had no right to, for whatever religious, or racial reasons. Vote because women marched and protested and worked their bloomers dirty working for the right to be counted. So, be counted. Check your ballot twice before you hit enter, but vote.

Vote because we can and need to show the world that Americans care enough about influencing who will be the chief executive over our government and not just meddling into their affairs.

Vote because we need to start to mend our reputation as America and Americans around the globe. Now more than ever, we need the rest of the world to support us, financially and morally.

Vote---because the race is so close, it's going to be so cool seeing how your vote, my vote, and the votes of our friends and family add up and how it all turns out. This is one game of life that's going to be so exciting and have such incredible impact.

Vote.

The Movies and Their Players

2008-10-13T17:28:00.009-04:00

Anybody who knows me well knows that I married an entertainment critic. So, I watch a lot of DVDs,movies and TV. After seventeen years of wedlock I choose to watch some movies with my husband, avoid others or acquiesce to his requests to see some films with him because he wants my perspective and my knack for following the details of intricate stories and plots.

It's very rare that I find myself coming back from a film with the desire to go to the web and learn more about them, or read more about its players. I did that with "Rachel Got Married." Grammatically, the title of this film is awkward. It doesn't feel right saying it out loud as a title. I'd feel better talking with my New York accent about the title as part of a long sentence. You know, "Rachel was born, graduated from kindergarten, got pimples, got her PhD and, oh yeah, then Rachel got married."

Maybe we're supposed to feel the discomfort of saying the title out loud in order to feel the discomfort the members of the family portrayed in the film feels for each other. I'll let you go, spend the 9 to 10 bucks to see the film and report back here later.

I didn't want to write a blog about this film giving my review of it.

Well, for starters, I'm not the reviewer in the family.

But, I did want to tell you that I really wanted to see Debra Winger again on "the big screen." I wanted to see that "middle aged" lady as a way to gauge how I'm doing as a middle aged lady. What's my self analysis? I still dunno. As for Winger--she's damned good-maybe even better than ever as an actress. Or, maybe the roles are just better. You tell me.

Another "player" is Ms. Anna Deveare Smith, who I enjoyed watching on TV's "West Wing," while watching PBS broadcasts of her one-woman shows, and whom I saw in person at a pro-choice event in DC a few years ago. I was fascinated by the skill she has to mold her face to go with the characters she "channels," or emulates. Attitude is worn on Deveare Smith's face like a mask. I saw her unwind just after that live performance in DC and it reminded me of what runners go through when they cool down after a long distance run. I felt like I was interfering in what ought to have been a private moment for her. (How I got to see this moment is perhaps a story for another blog post.) I admire this actress. I wish I could see her in more movies.

OK. What about the "It girl of the film," that big doe-eyed Anne Hathaway? Well, this is not a fairy-tale. I'd like to know what my friends, who are in recovery, think of her performance. I have a hunch they will be very impressed.

Oh, as for the reviewer in the family: He doesn't read my blog. I don't even think he knows how to find it on the web. But, if you hear his reviews and his sentiments resemble mine in anyway it's pure coincidence. And, no animals were harmed in this blogs writing and, no, I'm serious. I don't share my writings with him much. But, should you happen to talk to him about this film and my remarks resemble his in any way-well, I'm bound to rub off on him in some ways. Hey, Rita Got Married!

But--will anybody REALLY get the joke

2008-10-05T08:26:00.003-04:00

We live in a Post Palin World! So, world, whatha think? ">

Paul Newman

2008-10-03T20:37:00.004-04:00

Heavy sigh. Who wouldn't want a boyfriend like him? Rugged. Blue-eyed. Square jawed. Jewish--or at least identified himself as one.

Ever since I watched "Exodus" on Channel 7's 4:30 movie, over-and-over-and-over again, as a kid in metro New York, I thought he was a hunk. Falling in love with heroes-such an easy thing for a girl to do.

Admiring a man who loved to be outdoors, create fun for others, and more than that, help create memories for them, beyond his own portrayals of characters on the silver screen--gee, it's easy to see why a gal would watch the 4:30 movie showing of Exodus as many times as it must have been shown, after school, while growing up in the '70s.

Others have written great essays about this humanitarian, who gave to the world. I'm just adding my voice and prayers to the throng.

Nice Non-Partisan asssesment of last night's Presidential Debate

2008-09-27T09:28:00.002-04:00

Once again TJ Walker does a masterful job of explaining the nuts and bolts of debate verbiage---not the policy flubs.
TJ was one of my first clients when I started Rita Rich Media Services.
I would use him as a guest on the Jim Bohannon Show to talk politics and speaking styles.

Mutual/NBC Radio Reunion

2008-09-23T09:55:00.003-04:00

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My quick remarks. We had a great gathering. My friend Marty Davis, whose been very busy traveling lately, posted this to her page on YouTube.

If you want to see more video from the reunion and the NAB conference in Austin go to ChickaBoombox videos on YouTube.

Thanks for the shooting video of me, Marty.

Woke up to the clock radio, and realized it was 9/11

2008-09-11T14:16:00.010-04:00

It wasn't hard for me to realize what today's date was as I live in the suburbs of Washington DC. My clock radio is tuned to an AM station that carries the late night talk show that I produced for a few years. In the mornings that station is now Federal News Radio. And, the reporter on the phone was talking from the Pentagon Memorial.
He was talking a couple of hours before a moment of silence, wreath laying, and the official opening of the memorial.

As I was listening to the coverage I felt this feeling of dread and sadness that I hadn't felt in awhile. It happens every 9/11. It's that footprint of the event of seven years ago---embedded in my heart; the panic of being on the street with thousands of other Washingtonians as they wondered how they would be getting home and if they would be getting home; that feeling of vulnerability and not knowing how to live in a country that actually experiences war and attacks within its own borders; the feelings of uncertainty of taking a lower paying job than the one that I was let go from because the tech bubble burst and an important client trimmed expenses, which trickled down to me.

The ebullience of the 90s was over. We had a new President. We had more money coming in from overseas economies than was going out from the U.S. There was a lack of economic certainty and then, the terrorists struck.

The stress of 9/11 -- being witness to the landmarks that I grew up with as a native New Yorker, tumbling down, and hearing about the jet slamming into a building that I could see outside a window from offices where I had spent 11 years of my life: well, it shook me to my core. The sounds of explosions, from who knows what, adding to anxiety as reports-later false-of explosions in the Mall in DC; were broadcast on TV and radio; the uncertainty about whether I would make it home to my husband only added to my fear.

It's 9/11. It's hard to believe it wasn't yesterday. But, it wasn't. It was seven years ago. Some of the kids my husband teaches weren't even born then. Others were too young to really know what was going on. Between that day and today there have been lots of laughter and tears of happiness. And, our lives changed. That freedom of running to the airport and getting on a plane, at virtually the last minute -- gone. The freedom of being able to, without thinking about it much, hit the open road and travel around our country for summer vacation -- gone. That feeling that I will live a life as good as, if not better, as my parents' -- gone.

But, still, I remember. Today is 9/11.

Tomorrow will by the 12th. And, I'll blog about it then.

Matt Damon--a Palin Presidency, like a really Bad Disney flick

2008-09-10T18:22:00.004-04:00

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This is precious.

One Point of View as to how Sarah Palin Did

2008-09-04T13:06:00.003-04:00

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TJ Walker was one of the first clients who hired me when I started my business over four years ago. I met him while producing the Jim Bohannon Show (Westwood One) in the '90s. I too thought that Governor Palin did well with her teleprompter. Now, Fox News' correspondent in the GOP Convention in the Twin Cities reporters that the prompter was cutting off the first couple of lines on the top of her text.

Palin rehearsed well. Plus, my friend, the Chickaboomer reported on her blog, and thanks to YouTube, that Palin (before she was married) did spend some time before TV cameras. She was a sports caster. I would hope she would be comfortable speaking before cameras. I give her a lot of credit for being able to ignore the crowds and stay focused at the task at hand: delivering her remarks well.

Thanks for the video, TJ!

Rita

Dear Levi,

2008-09-04T09:50:00.005-04:00

I'm so sorry that you screwed around with the governor's daughter.
You're a boy. You'll be a boy for at least another 10 years.
And, you knocked up the Republican GOP's vice presidential pick.

Well, if that's not the best advertisement for using condoms I don't know what is.
Your days of independence, if you really truly ever had any, are now over.

And, it'll get worse should the McCain and Palin ticket win in November.

Think you'll be able to hang out in Alaska and be the hero-jock of your gang?
Think again.

You'll be knee deep in secret service, diapers, and expectations.
You won't be able to get a Slurpy at a 7-11 without somebody having to clear it of people.

Boy, did you screw up.

And, you cannot even dream of taking it out on the girl you got pregnant, or your soon to be born son or daughter. You've got to suppress your anxieties, frustrations and anger, or at least find a great way to deal with all of this. You might be too macho for psycho-therapy. Would the clergy your in-laws choose for you truly be empathetic to your feelings?

Like it or not, you're still expected to grow up and show that you're as big of a man as your soon-to-be-father-in-law.

And, already you're all over the Internet.

Just try to get a job now, outside of Alaska, where people will take you seriously.

I supposed you could be the "hotty" abstinence poster boy.

Just make sure you get royalties and merchandising rights.
You can live easily on those, at least for a little while.

For now, sit back, and enjoy the next two months, before Bristol goes into labor and starts screaming obscenities at you.

Babies having babies.

Some adults have a hard time dealing with a little life taking over their lives.
Can you handle the little life and the in-laws?

So, somebody had the bright idea to plan a reunion...

2008-09-03T18:14:00.007-04:00

and, silly me, I thought it was a good idea too.
So, I stepped up, and then, I got busy.

Very busy.

That's why I haven't written anything in this space for awhile.

It's a good event. It's a "once in a lifetime" chance to be in the same
ballroom with people who made your newsroom come to life, and made that newsroom legendary.

It's the Mutual/NBC Radio Newsroom Reunion...or NBC/Mutual News as we used to say when we picked up the phone as it rolled off the lips easier that way.

The newsroom was in Crystal City. There's a great Wikipedia post about Mutual News that explains the history of how two separate newsrooms were merged into one. Two different on-air announcers served by the same great staff of tape editors...and yes they were TAPE editors...until the place closed down 10 years ago.

That newsroom was the first job I had in D.C. It was a place where I had the opportunity to work with folks I had listened to while growing up, fortunate to have interned for and met while a college student in Buffalo, NY, and a place where I learned to admire and like, very, very much some of the most dedicated people I've ever had the opportunity to work with.

You share a lot of experiences, both professional, and those that belong to the realm of "history," with newsroom chums. I suppose that's why I can't wait to go to the reunion on September 13th.

By the way that dark photo is a screen shot of the E-Vite of for the reunion. Hope you can come!

Politics, Politcs, Politcs!

2008-08-24T10:46:00.003-04:00

The Moment we've been waiting for!
The first of the two political conventions are here!
One of the blogs I follow--on a---somewhat--every-so-often basis is the Washington Post's The Fix.
I've seen Chris Cillizza at the National Press Club. He's as genuine in his vlogs as he was in person. Check out the politics blog on the Washington Post website, and you'll be privy (if privilege is the right word) to witness the backstage of the press corp.
Enjoy!
Let the games begin!

Oh, how I hate saying goodbye to a pet

2008-08-02T16:41:00.005-04:00

My dearest dog, Jolie, the number one dog, the first one my husband and I adopted as a married couple, is gone. Our 14 year old champion of love, a most virtuous brat, and a most spoiled k-9 kid has joined her late sisters, Veronica, Cherry Coke and Betty and her late brothers Greg and Max. Jolie's the dog on the left, the golden is Greg.

It doesn't get easier.

Euthanasia, while the most humane option for Jolie today, still results in the painful parting of souls. And, yes, I believe animals have them. Their souls, and sacrifices for humans make us better beings. That's just the way it is. All I can hear in my head is Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5.

G-d Bless and know that I will miss you forever, Jolie girl.

Written and Composed by Clifton Davis
Never can say goodbye
No, no, no, no, I never can say goodbye
1st Verse
Even though the pain and
heartache Seem to follow me
wherever I go
Though I tried and tried to hide my feelings
They always seem to show
Then you try to say you're leaving me
And I always have to say "No"
Tell me why is it so?
That I never can say goodbye
No, no, no, no, I never can say goodbye girl
2nd Verse
Every time I think I've had enough
And start heading for the door
There's a very strange vibration
That's piercing me right to the core
It says "Turn around you fool
You know you love her more and more"
Tell me why is it so
Don't wanna let you go!
Chorus
I never can say goodbye girl, uh baby
I never can say goodbye, no, no, no, no, uh
I never can say goodbye girl, uh, uh
I never can say goodbye, no, no, no, no, uh
Never can say goodbye
No, no, no, no, I never can say goodbye
3rd Verse
I keep thinking that our problems
Soon are all gonna work out
But there's that same unhappy feeling
And there's that anguish
There's that doubt
It's that same old dizzy hang-up
Can't do with you or without
Tell me why is it so?
Don't wanna let you go!
Chorus
I never can say goodbye girl, uh baby
I never can say goodbye, no, no, no, no, uh
I never can say goodbye girl, uh
I never can say goodbye, no, no, no, no, uh

Too Precious to NOT share...out of office

2008-07-18T11:51:00.002-04:00

So, I pitch reporters for a living. Some by phone, and most by e-mail as most people with specialized programs really don't want to be interrupted all the time by phone calls. And, here's an out of office reply that caught my attention.

> I will be out of the office until July 28th
>
> If it's an urgent matter, call my cell.
>
> If you don't have that number, we probably don't know each other
> well enough to have any business that would qualify as urgent.
>
> Are you sick of that out of office yet?
>
> I still think it's funny....and true.

Orange Jumper? Check. Beguiling Smile? Check. On Mug Shot? Check?

2008-07-17T09:53:00.005-04:00

Heh-heh. Aye-ya-yay-ya-aye!
So, I'm checking out a website of one of the radio outlets that I'm pitching a story to and I see the most interesting use of a visual.
It's as if she's saying "Here, take the photo now. This is my good side."
Or maybe, "Now I don't have to pay to get a head-shot taken! Hollywood! Here I Come!"
Or, "Can I get this on my driver's license?"

Credit the Wisconsin Radio Network for showing it's listeners a most interesting story.
Check out the complete story here.

I Shouldn't Have Teased You...

2008-07-16T15:48:00.006-04:00

Three days ago I posted a blog with a graphic of a running yellow dog.
The title was, want to stare at this blog for awhile?
Strange?
Well, yes, unless you followed my tags and did a google search on them.
I wasted your time.
I learned, by doing some media relations work for the Information Overload Research Group, and talking to a founding member, Jonathan Spira, of a research company BASEX, that for every one minute of an interruption, you lose 10 to 20 minutes in recovery. That is, I just wasted about 20 minutes of your time by posting a blog that probably perplexed you, got you on the goose chase of searching on the Net for anything that might help you figure me out, and I apologize--sort of.
(like being only a little bit pregnant-I guess a sort-of apology isn't really an apology.)
I'm planning on finally taking a trip with my husband and his service dog (a Canine Companion for Independenc.) and the usual phenomenon is happening: going out of town and now busier than I've been in awhile-itis. This phenonomena is one of many that will cause me to regret wasting any moments on blogs, Twitter, and otherwise, not making calls on behalf of clients.
Don't even ask me about housework. I seem to have forgotten how to plug in the vacuum cleaner.
So, you'll have to forgive me for teasing you.

And, you'll have to forgive me if I only blog and write to you if only to let off steam about how mean some reporters and broadcasters are because they think--well, I interrupted them with my phone calls, and uhm....dare I say, wasted their time?

Want to stare at this gif for awhile?

2008-07-12T21:46:00.001-04:00

Amazing what you get from your folks via e-mail-re Designing Women

2008-07-09T09:27:00.006-04:00

I'm the third of three daughters. So, I guess my folks thought I'd get a hoot out of the fact that a women-owned firm was put in charge of interior design of a company dominated by men. They showed their creativity in the loo, where men don't chat, laugh, or otherwise, do much other than do what they're doing while relieving themselves.

And with this post I'm back to promoting a fitness expert who is the former director of the White House Athletic Center, Ted Vickey; and the Information Overload Research Group.

My too few hours at the Newseum

2008-06-28T20:54:00.003-04:00

You probably cannot tell what it is by the photo. (Here's the URL:
http://www.newseum.org/press_info/press_materials/image_downloads/index.aspx?item=image_downloads&style=c) It's from the online media kit from the Newseum, which is located at the corner of 6th and Pennsylvania Avenues in the Penn Quarter Section of Washington, D.C. The exterior of the building has been swooned over, and for good reason, by thousands of visitors and passersby.
What hasn't gotten much press, because I think it was done without much fanfare, so as to not upset New Yorkers, was the setting up of a very chilling 9/11 exhibit. Center stage is the broadcast antenna that was on one of the doomed towers---those wonderful World Trade Center towers that were part of the landscape that I grew to love and look forward to seeing whenever I went back home again. Yes--that's the "thing," the display of what at first glance looks like scrap metal...and beyond it a wall of headlines from around the world, all talking about the unbelievable event of 9/11/2001.

And there it is, just a few miles from my suburban DC home, the antenna that crumbled when the the great edifice that it was bolted to collapsed like a house of cards, almost seven years ago. Look at the hulk of mangled support structure, and then look at the bent rod of metal that seemed to touch the sky over mighty Manhattan. That former symbol of strength, and the symbol of all that was possible in communications, is now in Washington, serving as the focal point of a very moving display, which also includes the personal effects of a reporter who died while following firefighters into the Towers.

To me, that tower was the focal point I looked for while crossing the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, from Staten Island, to Brooklyn, whenever I drove back to the my old home -- Long Island -- the place where I grew up and fell in love with words, reading, radio and the news industry. Today I barely recognized that beacon that told me that I was home again and I was practically close enough to touch it.

Thanks, New York, for letting this Washingtonian see the Trade Center tower one more time.

The Safe Pick-Tom Brokaw to helm 'Meet the Press' through November election

2008-06-22T12:15:00.003-04:00

Thanks to a Marketwatch e-mail bulletin in my in-box I learned that "Meet the Press "will be moderated by Tom Brokaw, for the next few months. It's the safe choice to put NBC's Special Correspondent in the moderator’s chair.

It also will get the news division to start focusing on getting their reporters to start digging deep for scoops, again.

I posted a comment on a friend’s blog that I thought that the current host of the PBS Show, "Washington Week," Gwen Ifill would be a great moderator for the landmark NBC TV News program. She used to work with Russert in the DC Bureau, and she's got "moderator's chops." Ifill is also billed as the managing editor of "Washington Week." She could fill that post for NBC. And, they wouldn't have to reshuffle staff. Beat reporters are very important. Experience, contacts, familiarity with places and people of the beat, all still matter while working one particular source for news in D.C. Don't move your beat reporters off their beats. Keep 'em there and encourage them to work harder. NBC should approach Ifill. She's still a familiar figure to her former cronies at the Peacock network. She could move into the moderator’s chair at the network and presumably not ruffle feathers.

But, then, I don’t know “the dish” about Ifill and the rest of the news establishment. I don’t know who gets along with whom in that Wisconsin Avenue news bureau.I don’t know whom, if anybody, was being “groomed” to take over for Russert. Brian Williams was for Brokaw. That seemed to be common knowledge. But, I don’t know if there were any rumblings from the set of “M-T-P.”

Brokaw is the safe pick during a historic election cycle. I’d wish him luck, but, he won’t need it. This is the type of job that retired news reporters salivate for. You can be as close to being “inside-the fray” without being inside it. It’s energizing. It gets your adrenalin pumping. He’ll enjoy the job even though we all know he regrets the circumstances for doing it. He'll enjoy living within the moment, and indeed, being part of history.

He'll be thinking about Tim everytime they're counting down to him at the show's open.

Rita

If It's Sunday, It's more Tim Russert Memories

2008-06-15T08:54:00.005-04:00

http://www.politickernh.com/files/politickernh/features/tim-russert.jpg

I know that I have readers across the Atlantic who check out my blog from time to time. Some wonder why we are paying homage to a journalist much like when Princess Diana died. It is "wall-to-wall" coverage, and dare I say, I don't think Russert would believe he would be worthy of coverage given to heads of states and cultural icons. I'm not going to be the last one to write, "the guy from South Buffalo didn't intend to become an icon."

I suppose you have to be one of "us," those who have worked in a newsroom, at all hours of a day, working under the pressure of three or four, or sometimes more deadlines for each hour of an eight hour shift. At least that's the way it was at Mutual/NBC Radio News. By the way, 10 years ago this summer, Westwood One broadcast the last Mutual and NBC Radio News newscasts from it's Crystal City/Northern VA studios. A reunion is being planned. Newscasters from all eras of Mutual/NBC Radio are all ready e-mailing their excitement about being in the same room with each other again. So, I hope you can understand why Russerts employees, and colleagues at NBC TV poured their hearts out to quickly come up with tributes when the unthinkable, and very unexpected happen. They pulled off tributes for leaders and cultural icons they didn't know. How could they not pull one off for Tim?

But, let me throw out another reason why this coverage happened. When 9/11 happened I yearned to be back in a newsroom and doing the job of reporting the news, instead of walking with the crowds in downtown DC, blocks from the White House, as part of the news. As a New Yorker watching the landmarks of my life tumble stunned me. As a person who worked less than a half a mile from the Pentagon, in Crystal City, I was stunned to hear about a jetliner slamming into the part of the building that I often looked at while peering out of a window of the 12th floor of a building that at that time had the street address of 1755 S. Jefferson Davis Hwy. I knew people who worked in the Pentagon, both military and civilian, and I knew people whose family members worked in the towers, and I was frankly scared of war coming to my country. How I yearned to stop thinking like a scared civilian, and take a step back and filter my emotions as a non-partisan, objective reporter.

The coverage of Russert from both Buffalo and Washington, D.C. has one common thread--this man loved to create friendships and he worked hard keeping them. Sometimes he gave those of us in his TV audience a glimpse of his family life. Those who heard him being interviewed and briefed on radio heard more about it--especially on the local all news station, because Tim knew his wife and son would be listening. He was tough on newsmakers and then he would showcase his fatherhood by proudly speaking about his son. Conversly, I think he protected his life as a husband from public showcases. Well, marriage is sacred, and one can infer, from the tributes after Tim's death, that he knew a thing or two about sacredness as the matter of his Catholicism has come up more than a few times.

So, while I suspect that the Washington Bureau Chief of NBC News would not enjoy the fact that he unknowingly has become a cultural icon, and influencer of world leaders (to at least try their darndest not to be pandering idiots on the air) I think he'd understand why there was so much coverage of his death, which shocked so many people he associated with.

I cannot help but remember the pain I felt when I learned about the unexpected death, ten years ago, of a great newsman, Fred Lowerey, of Mutual News. There was no wall-to-wall tribute, but there were tributes. We couldn't help ourselves. Our listeners had the habit of hearing him on the radio, and they did, for over 20 years. We needed to explain his absence. He died in his beloved home state of Maine, where he would summer. We all looked forward to Fred's return because we'd needle him to stop sounding like an old sea faring New England fisherman and more like the authoritative newsman he was.

I'll never forget the partnership Fred had with his producer, Cara Fogarty. They worked so well together, and their "Mutual" respect was one that I admired. When I wrote to Cara about the 10th "anniversary" of the shuttering of our newsroom she wrote back that she couldn't bare to think of it because it meant Fred has been gone for that long.

Hey-Tim! I don't think your colleagues and friends at NBC can bare to think of another week without you being there for them. You better send down word from up above that it's time for them to start cracking the books, doing the Lexis-Nexis searches, and work hard to make up for your absence. No excuses, guys. You taught them how to do it. Now, it's time for a new generation of journalist to try to learn how to be more like you.

But, take it from my friend, Fogarty--it'll still hurt not having you around.

Tim Russert - wow. He died at work. Just like that.

2008-06-13T16:55:00.005-04:00

How sad.
I'm watching another Buffalo native anchor this news, Wolf Blitzer.
I went to Buffalo State College. I produced talk shows and edited audio for newscasts and news feeds from Washington. I met him--like every other person did--at events around town. I wasn't a friend. But, it seems like everything just stopped this afternoon. It's a Friday afternoon and there's no point in calling anybody in this city about any other topic. Tim Russert died suddenly and that's the news.

Now I'm watching CNN playng back Tom Brokaw's breaking news from NBC. Incredible.

Wow. Just chilling. They're playing the whole broadcast and they stopped as Brokaw seems to be on the brink of tears just as he said, "He loves his family."

Yeah- he did. He talked about them on local radio interviews. He'd be talking about politics, and then explain why he had to rush over the phone. "I'm off to see my son play baseball." Or, "Got tickets for the Wizards." Or, "Off to the airport."

I'll always remember how he would end some shows with "Go Bills!" Hey! I root for that team too! Here's this big shot in political news and he's still rooting for Buffalo.

So sad.

My sister's friend has passed on

2008-06-08T19:28:00.002-04:00

It's been weeks after I first wrote about the empathy I felt for my oldest sister as she visited her comatose friend. The woman died this past Wednesday.
She did regain consciousness.
She asked my sister to help her to die.
My sister did not.
In the end it happened with the woman's children around and in a place closer to
where they lived.
That's how the story ends.

Thank you Perry Michael Simon

2008-05-30T11:42:00.005-04:00

I read lots of radio industry newsletters, e-mails, blogs and wanted to tip my hat to Perry Michael Simon, a great radio-guy, of my vintage, for his insights into a major talk radio/talk tv story this week.

Perry related to the former White House flack Scott McClellan tell all book story by putting it in terms that radio colleagues can relate to:

When radio people get fired or quit, many of them -- oh, let's just say most of us -- immediately commence trashing their now-former bosses and co-workers and the industry right away, and continue with the dark oaths for a long time, perhaps even years.

Scott McClellan is in the news for ripping his former employer (the president) and his former co-workers (the administration).

The difference between radio people and Scott McClellan is that McClellan got someone to pay him to do that. Radio people do it for free. (Okay, radio people aren't dealing with a war and matters of life and death, but you get the idea)

The point is, you gain nothing but temporary satisfaction from telling everyone you know how idiotic your former boss was or how your former station stinks now that you're not there. But it's human to take those shots, and everyone always has. The difference is that today, you can go on the Internet and put your gripes on record. Instead of venting on the phone with a friend, you can tell the world that your ex-boss doesn't know what he or she is doing; the company is a bunch of cheapskate morons; the guy who replaced you is a loser. Maybe he is; maybe they are; maybe he is.

Maybe you shouldn't do that.

You gain nothing by it. You make yourself sound like a whiner. And it won't change anything -- you'll still be as unemployed as you were before.

I tend to associate professionally, and I hope in my personal relationships, who all believe in the "What goes-around-comes-around" premise.

When I talk to college students about life after living in the campus-bubble, I often say, "Don't screw with your friends. If it's your turn to buy the pizza, toilet paper, or clean out the coffee maker, do it. If you owe somebody money pay them back. These are the people who will help you find a job, start a career, or change one when you need them. Don't burn any bridges."

Well, there goes Perry--and I tip my hat to him. He's reminding professionals to not screw with their friends, even if they prove to be impotent friends, who are either unwilling or unable to save your job, or cover your back when they need you.

What goes around does come around.

Be good to yourselves and others today.

And, thanks, Perry. I hope you are happy that I liberally lifted from your letter this week. It was too good not to share to the few who read my blog.

Rita

Politics-eh. Harvey Korman-RIP

2008-05-29T21:37:00.005-04:00

Let's just forget about politics. The presidential campaign is taking too long. My hair has, as I've come to put it, more silver strands in it now than I was when Hillary and Barack started their stump speeches months ago. And, I'm not an old-chick!

I'm tired of the crap. And, now, we have Scott McClellan milking his time as the see-no-evil/speak-no-evil///but hear plenty, but say nothing, White House spin master, who must really want to get a good night sleep-so he writes a memoir that in effect says, "forgive me."

And, I'm sad about the death of Harvey Korman. Let's talk about Harvey Korman.
There are times in a child's life that she remembers because she shared laughter with her parents and Korman, on the Carol Burnett Show, was in many of those moments.
And, I loved him in Blazing Saddles.

Rest easy, Harvey. The memories of you doing whatever you did, in any number of sketches, movies, and interviews on TV will make me giggle for years to come.

Breaking news as I blog! Democratic leaders are saying that by this time next week our national ordeal will be over--that there will be a nominee. (I must confess, I'm listening to MSNBC as I'm tapping this out.)

If only Harvey Korman could've held on!

Spring Time in Silver Spring

2008-05-22T08:52:00.006-04:00

I could write about how we're going to be paying a lot more to take luggage on aircraft, spend a bundle feeding our gas tanks, feed our gas tanks or pay our mortgage, and the virtues of radio-it's still the best way to inform the public in emergencies. But, I know it's been written about before.

So, I'll take a breather and rejoice in my 14 year old dog enjoying a hefty 1/2 mile walk with me in what is truly springtime weather. It's not too cold or hot, it's right in the middle, which is an oddity for the DC metro area. We usually don't get graceful cool spring air. We get winter then smoggy-hot.

I havn't had time to blog. I've "tweeted" what has been going on with me, professionally. I'm also on Plaxo and LinkedIn. Frankly, all this social media is taking up a lot of time. I havn't talked over the phone, for hours, with girlfriends, like I used to do. Lately, family hasn't heard my voice.

So, I suppose I'll have to get on the phone and make a call or two.

A question to readers out there: how have you been doing keeping up with providing information, and writing information on the web? Have you gotten any satisfaction for your efforts?

My dogs are my BFFs

2008-05-04T21:19:00.003-04:00

I "Tweeted" on "Twitter" when I was at the vets. I took my eldest dog, Jolie, to her first acupuncture appointment. And, now she's lying about 3 feet from me, looking up at me with a big doggy grin. And, I'm thinking, gee, that dog is my BFF. Come to think of it, all my dogs (I currently live with four of them) are my best friends. I love it when they just want to hang around me. They wake up in a good mood. They get me moving in the morning. They even tell me (and yes, they do tell me) when it's time I went up to bed.

I would do anything, and have done most anything, to help my animals feel good, live with chronic illnesses, and feel loved.

They're my BFFs.

Rita was Rambling With Gambling as a school kid...

2008-04-30T13:01:00.007-04:00

and, now, coming back to his dad's long time station, and his former station---John R!

Did I mention that I love radio? Well, I grew up listening to news and talk, as well as what was album oriented rock, and then got into the freakish, fadish, and fascinating sounds of alternative rock in college.

But, my family was always into the news talk thing. Dad would get up at 5:30 AM, preparing for the bumper-to-bumper drive on the Long Island Expressway to a corner of Queens called College Point. He'd listen to WCBS Newsradio 88 and hear Fred Fishkin's traffic report. Mom would get up after Dad rolled out of the driveway and switch the kitchen table radio to WOR and Ramble with John A. Gambling. As a result, I was Rambling with Gambling while learning how to boil water and make my own breakfast, and while dashing out the door to catch the school bus.

Radio created, and still does, create, it's own community for its listeners. There is a certain comfort in consistency, and of being "one of the gang." And, there was a certain comfortable discourse that you'd hear on John Gambling's program.

Anyhoo--John R is back on Buckley Broadcasting's WOR and I'll be streaming it from time to time from my PC in suburban DC.

By the way...the baseball style photo is of John A--the Gambling I listened to as a kid with my Mom. Mom and I shared a lot of "media" while I was growing up. And, I always like watching all sorts of stuff with her when we visit together. Maybe I'll blog about that sometime.

News from my sister--there isn't any...and other musings.

2008-04-28T10:20:00.005-04:00

No news means it's not over yet.
My last post was about feelings of sympathy for my oldest sister who has been visiting a comatose friend in the hospital. Nothing new to report. My sister deals with her pain in what seems like a solitary-fashion to me.

Meantime, my parents visited a dear, decades old friend of theirs who has Alzheimer's.

Yup--my family has had less than fun times.

Some of my friends are having less than fun times as well. Just heard that a friend has been out of touch since December because she's been dealing with "elder care." Another got sick and had to be quarantined away from her husband with M.S.

Time is a warped thing. You grow up thinking about what things, events, milestones in life that are important. But, like a sand castle, easily toppled by a charging child, a gentle wave, or a gust of wind--those things just sort of disappear. They can be money, career, ambition, or dreams. So, with the naive dreams of a gal who should know better I write--can't we all just get along?

I'm getting so tired of the Presidential political poopy-poo. I'm getting so disappointed that real things that can assuage the anxieties of so many aren't getting discussed. I'm getting sad about the foreclosed homes on my block and directly across the street from my house.

I want to hear young children laughing and playing, not crying because they have to move.

Gosh. How I do adore those closest to me. So, I feel for them. I wish them all the gentleness of younger, healthier times -- times that are more exciting than they realize. I wish them the times that I hope they can one day look back upon and wistfully dream about.

The stuff you think you'll only experience by watching a TV drama

2008-04-16T08:38:00.005-04:00

My oldest sister is visiting a friend, one she's known since Junior high, who is now in a drug-induced coma, in a Long Island hospital this morning. She's not going to come out of this coma. This is part of her dying. I know how close my sister and this woman are. They double dated together, cut class together, shopped, shared their life's pleasures and worries, everything friends do.

How do you say so long to a friend like that?

This was a person who shared in the delight in learning about your life's triumph's and shed tears with you when you sobbed about the disappointments. You didn't just invite them to your wedding, you made them part of your ceremony. If they got pregnant before you did, or got their period before you did, or knew of a doctor that you should go to, they were there. They were just there.

I don't know how not to cry when thinking about the tears my sister is swallowing so that she can drive on the Northern State or the Long Island Expressway to visit her friend, and walk through the hospital door. I don't kow what kind of anguish she is in when nobody is around. But, I think I feel that anguish now.

It just is.

Dr. Phil--just go away.

2008-04-14T17:14:00.003-04:00

You heard the latest about Dr. Phil and some alleged "rouge" members of his staff bailing out a 17 year old girl-bashing teen. The staff were "reprimanded." Sure. I believe that. They were yelled at for getting caught!

Watch the FX TV show Dirt? If you do you see that the tabloid-zine depicted actually encourages staff, from writers, photographers and gophers, to do whatever it takes, to get a good story, photo, what-have-you to sell copies. (Just as long as the expense account doesn't suffer TOO much from it. But, they do buy lavish gifts to bribe sources and spend more money than most of us do for groceries.)

Well, don't tell me that Dr. Phil, who seems like a real control freak to me, didn't know that his producers would stoop to bailing out a teenager in order to get her on the air. Producers have to fling some "dirt" sometimes to get good guests. I've even heard (ok, overheard) some cable news outlet producers discuss what it would take to get celebrities to show up for events, that were OFF camera, in order to make their hosts happy.

Well, blame the lack of ethical-fortitude on supply-side economics. If the hosts, audiences, and networks suits didn't want the type of guests that we all gawk at, like the proverbial traffic accident, "rogue" producers wouldn't still be on the payroll at the Dr. Phil Show.

I'm just sick of the man. I didn't quite get what made self-made billionaires, Harpo, go gah-gah over him. I didn't think he offered anything that my own father didn't already offer. But, my dad has a less than charming (but very charming and warm to me) Brooklyn, NY accent, and Dr. Phil sounds like a cartoon character. I guess we tend to gawk at him too.

Why I don't blog much....

2008-04-07T10:41:00.003-04:00

My friend, Chickaboomer, of Chickaboomer blog fame posted an entry on how blogging may be dangersous to ones health. The New York Times wrote an article on it that you can find here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html?ei=5065&en=1c3f36a3531123cb&ex=1208059200&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
I started working out of a home office, in part, because I wanted to be less stressed. But most bloggers, who get paid for their writing, do it from home offices, and the article details the death by stress, or by unhealthy living habits that can develop when a person works from home.
Chickaboomer took some time off. I don't post much when I'm busy writing for clients.

The Internet has inspired new ways for people to keep tabs on one another. There's a Twitter account linked up to this blog. If I was so inclined, I could have text messaged to Twitter, an hour ago, that I took my 14 year old dog walking with a kid who is off from school today. Her parents work. She's hanging out with her grandparents and uncles who live across the street from me. She's got nothing to do other than to play video games, watch TV and hang out with my husband and me and our four dogs. Reading books isn't tops on her list. Well, she is in third grade. She might not have developed the reading skills to be able to get absorbed in the types of books that are as exciting as video-gaming to the hard rock-n-roll of the 70s and 80s; or shooting bad guys out of her anamorphic alter-ego. The good news is that she doesn't have the broadband access that will allow her to get hooked in the alter-worlds of social clubs on the Internet, including reading Twitter or blog posts.

I've often pondered in my writing here whether I would have anything worthy to muse about when compared to all the other blogs out there. Now I know I shouldn't worry so much about that. The volume of my posts don't earn me any money. My paid clients couldn't care less about my inner thoughts. I write for my own pleasure, mostly, and as a release of creative forms of thinking--or an outlet for my free-thoughts; those not tide to work that I'm (hopefully!) paid to perform.

How about you?

Just testing this clipart.

2008-04-05T19:10:00.004-04:00

I've been searching on the web for some art that would go with my website...to give it a little animation when I post new stuff. How do you like the star?

Garnet got his license for 3 more years.

2008-04-05T10:04:00.005-04:00

It is with great pleasure that I announce that the honorable Garnet the IV has had his federally sanctioned assistance dog license extended for three more years.

Garnet is the second assistance dog that my husband, Chuck Rich, has been blessed to have been teamed with by the fabulous folks at Canine Companions for Independence.

Last week Chuck and I attended a workshop for puppy raisers in our region that includes Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.. There were easily 20 dogs, ranging in age from 12 weeks to at least 4 years old. I'm so proud of my "Mr. G" He didn't get all goofy and silly at the sight and smell of these puppies. He was in full uniform and was very disciplined.

Ok, he did sniff and touched muzzle-ever so briefly-with a rather petite hearing-assistance dog, a very pretty yellow law mix named Maya. She's a great working dog and her person, Kara, is very much in love with her. Kara also told her story. Maya has that same look of self-assurance and "I'll take care of you, friend" in her eyes that Garnet has. No wonder they touched muzzle!

The whole idea of our being at the workshop was to inspire the puppy raisers that no matter how hard the training may seem at this time, no matter how hard it will be to give that puppy back and turn-in to CCI, they should feel very, very proud of the role the played in raising the CCI dog.

Chuck and I both spoke to the puppy raisers and while we were there the CCI staff assessed how well Chuck and Garnet worked together. The result: Mr. G and my "Mr. R" have had their federal license renewed for three more years, which is the longest extension you get before you have to be tested again.

I started to choke up at the end of my presentation. You see, it would be very easy for my Mr R to not venture out in the world as much as he does. And, I don't know what it's going to be like to grow old with a man who is paralyzed from mid-chest and down. (I often misspell parplegic so correct my spelling if I got it wrong.) But, this dog is strong enough to help him move around, by pulling him in his chair. And, he cannot wait to get up and carry stuff for us. He loves working. He wakes up in the morning in a great mood, and reassures me whenever I spot him looking at me or being my "watch dog." Now, that's what he does for me. What he does for Chuck, Chuck will have to write about one day.

I've always been a dog person, ever since I was young. If you go to the Rich Dogs blog on blogger.com you'll find some of the posts I've written about my connection to my pet dogs. (Yes, Garnet lives with three other dogs and is part of a dynasty of great dogs that have graced our lives. And,I mean it. They've all graced our lives.)

I've got anxieties about the future that Garnet, and his predecessor, Greg, have helped calm. I wish everybody would look at a dog in a work vest the same way I do. They are my heroes and my best friends. I respect them. In return, they give me so much more.

CCI Dogs

2008-03-30T23:06:00.003-04:00

Went to a puppy training presentation today in Columbia, MD with my husband Chuck, and his faithful helper dog, Garnet IV. I'm so proud of my husband and his k-9 partner.
More on this tomorrow.

PS3---you sure got a strange way of signalling a firmware update..

2008-03-26T22:43:00.003-04:00

Ya know!
Some of the most infuriating things that occur on a regular basis to me these days is when a piece of technology, or a machine that I've grown to depend on, stop functioning for no apparent rhyme or reason. And, so it was with the Sony PS3 player. It's not that I have time to play games. We got the game console because it was the most affordable way to get a BlueRay disc player.

So, we're minding our own business, trying to watch a movie, and because we bought a high def monitor (before the law required they had to be tv recievers--it doesn't have an hdmi in...just a pc in, which we use a hdmi converter plug, so we can get the video from the PS3 to the high def Samsung monitor---a monster of a screen, as big as a typcial kitchen table.) In order to get audio, in full surround sound glory, we plugged an optical audio chord from the PS3 into our Sony receiver. And, it was working great! Then.....it stopped working great.

After fooling around with setting, and swapping chords, and searching-via Google of course- for any messages online from other PS3 users, I suggested to my husband that he once again check for a firmware update. See, he had already downloaded an update.
Well, wouldn't you know it? It needed another one.
And, the audio, magically came back.

Why oh why did Sony set up the PS3 to have technical difficulties when a firmware update is needed? Why aren't we "sent" the message some other way? And, if they were going to make the audio pooping out or the video going crappy the default signal that a firmware improvement needed to be downloaded, why wasn't this made abundantly clear to the PS3/blueray disc viewer in the first place!

False eyelashes...

2008-03-25T20:46:00.004-04:00

I've got to be brave....yes..I've got to be brave.
Well, not too brave. After all, a few posts ago I wrote about how vanity will probably be saving my life. I told you all about how I started exercising regularly to look better, and as a wonderful side effect, it's controlling hypertension (don't tell my health insurance company--they'll find a way to raise my rates. Pre-existing conditions are very damnable, indeed.)

Well, now I'm considering throwing out the brown/black mascara that I've been using since I was 12 and buying my first pair of "falsies."
There..that's my brave confession.

No. Not those.

Look at the photo-wise ass. I don't need THOSE falsies. Heavens no.

False eyelashes. How lady-like of me.

I'm just finding that many women are wearing these things. And, they don't smudge!

And, I just did a google news search on False Eyelashes....girls are now getting their lashes permed! Do you get triple the wish power when you blow one of these suckers off your finger tip when they fall off after you wash your face?

Now, I realize I'm way behind in my beauty news. But this is Rita's Musings. You're more than welcome to talk to me about this post,my twitters and other social networking messages you've found that I've put out there in the vast digital traffic jam.

Hello Hollywood? Can you try to trump reality? Holy Cow!

2008-03-23T09:46:00.008-04:00

http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbaras_blog/

I just read this post and the comments about this post.
My friend, Marty Davis, of Chickaboomer blog fame pointed me in this direction.

What is the old saying about reality being stranger than fiction?

Seems that she who would be president is part of a Christian Fellowship "hell bent" on taking over the world! No, I'm actually exagerating for effect.
Seriously, folks. There is an elistist group of public officials, who are members of an organization called The Fellowship, who regularly pray together both on Capitol Hill, and in nearby northern Virginia. And, Hillary Clinton is a member. From what I read, the services include a rather dramatic interpretation of a piece of classical music, written by Waggner, having to do with the Holy Grail.

Well, Holy Cow! I'm not kidding, Hollywood. Can you trump this? You've tried.
But, truly...reality kicks it all up a notch doesn't it?

Paterson--Oops.

2008-03-22T11:46:00.006-04:00

Well, I liked the guy. I just didn't know that he "liked" me. In case you missed it: Paterson AND his wife both admitted to having had extra-marital affairs. The latest twist is that Paterson is paying back his campaign war-chest some $250 dollars he used to pay a hotel bill for one of his assignations. Just google the story for yourself. I'm having trouble inserting hyperlinks to one I found at www.newsday.com

Now I'm reading about Detroit's Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. He was on TV with his wife, apologizing for the pain he caused her by shtooping a senior aide.

I don't know what to say about these men of power and influence that hasn't been said before. It doesn't take a brilliant commentator to ponder the influence of a nation's or world press/media that enjoys talking about the personal problems of public figures--as well they should. I'm all for exposing hypocrisy. I'm all for the reporting of public funds being used to pay for hotels, motels and other things a person needs in order to have a tryst or screw around on ones spouse. These guys/gals call for everybody else to be "transparent" and "accountable." But, then they are surprised when reporters remind them that they to have to follow the same rules.

Arrogance can be the downfall of civiliazations and empires and as these public officials are learning, careers

Spitzer--Prostitutes and DC--and David Paterson

2008-03-10T20:15:00.005-04:00

How ironic....I just picked up a book that a friend of my husband's bought for him, years ago. A book from the 1950's called Washington Confidential written by old newspapermen named Lee Mortimer and Jack Lait. Once I got through the shock of reading words such as, "the Negro problem." (Does my computer not know how to even spell the word "Negro? Is it even in spell check?) the authors stunned my naive 21st Century sensitivities by writing about how lonely and desperate are Washington professional women that one wonders why men would buy sex from whores! But, they did write that, and then went on to talk about the white ones and as they put it, "their black sisters." So, big woop! Madams and their prostitutes inhabit the Capitol.

So, today's shocking news (reporters were gasping, we're told) that Eliot Spitzer cavorted with a New York prostitute, whom he imported down to DC to have a dalliance at the stodgy Mayflower Hotel doesn't surprise me. Why, if you believe the two Washington Confidential newspapermen that's been going on ever since the first hay sucking legislator rode the first carriage in from the foothills, and into the District of Columbia. It's just too bad that a former Attorney General, the self-proclaimed Sheriff of Wall Street, thought with the little brain in his pants, instead of the one encased in his skull.

I don't know much about Eliot Spitzer, other than what I've read in the papers and from what I've heard from some knowledgeable Dems inside the Beltway. I hope he didn't use government funds for his dalliances. If he didn't, it's between his wife, and three daughters and him. If he did, New Yorkers will have to face the fact that once again, a politician they voted for, fooled them and isn't worthy of their votes.

I met the lieutenant gov of New York, David Paterson, at a progressive Democrat function two years ago, and found him to be very open to speaking to former New Yorkers, such as myself, and anybody else, who would strike up a conversation with him. He's visually disabled and sometimes the disabled don't have many people who are willing to talk to them. But, I'm a former New Yorker. And, he was open to hearing my ideas and thoughts about things, and was interested in learning where I was born, where I grew up and what I'm currently doing. Want to make friends with me? Ask me to talk about myself! He didn't act as if he expected me to know all about him, or his history, like some important people do. I didn't feel like he felt I was out of place by asking him lots of questions about himself like where in Brooklyn he was born, went to school, and what his Dad did for a living. He very openly explained without any of that big shot-attitude that I've come to expect from some public officials, about how he was currently serving in the same State Senate seat that his Dad served in, and how his father, when he was a kid temporarily, if I remember the story correctly, moved the family to Queens, when David as a kid so that David could get a good education--one that would work with him and take into account his disability. I remember that Paterson told me that his Dad made it clear that when the time was right the family would be moving back to Harlem because that was their community.

Well, that's as close as I'm going to come to the Spitzer scandal.
I wish Spitzer, Paterson and all the personal relations these two men have, luck with it all. I guess the ultimate lesson that should be learned is that the more power you assume in public life, the more exposed to scrutiny you are. You better live a cloistered perfect life because mistakes are too easy to make any other way.

I hope that Spitzer doesn't have to step down. But, if he does, I can say that I met Governor Paterson before he was even Lt. Gov and I liked him. New York will be in very good hands.

It's been nearly two years....

2008-03-05T12:02:00.004-05:00

....since I posted "One More Voice in Heaven"
and today I got an e-mail informing me of a comment left by Kurt's daughter.

Back then I was working for just a year on my own as an independent contractor, "gun for hire," in PR. I had recently had my gall bladder removed. I was dealing with a pet who had a chromic illness that later killed him. Our country was dealing with just over 2,000 dead in Iraq and I think we started to forget about our, and our allied countries', fatalities in Afghanistan.

Since then there have been many personal and some professional experiences in my life; some that I've dared to write about in this space, most that I've kept inside.

I suppose I suffer from being "inside the beltway" syndrome. One dare not share too much with the universe, at least not without the non de plume of "anonymous," lest it get dredged up from the muck of forgotten history and used against you in a dreadful way.

But, it's not just politicians who shoot back to you things you wish you hadn't written, be they e-mails, letters, blog posts, newspaper articles. It's business associates, and friends, who when they think they're being exploited or hurt wish to remind you of your words, search their archives and then with italices rub your nose in your own prose.

Now, don't get me wrong. I've had to search my e-mail to remind a former employer of his remarks that "we are true to our word," in regards to him rolling over 401K plan money that I didn't even realize that I was entitled to. Six months later I still haven't seen that money in my self-employed retirement account. I'm ok with using his own words to remind him of his commitments to me. However, he still hasn't acknowledged my voice mail and the e-mail that I sent him about this matter of a few hundred dollars. I suppose he's been very, very busy .

But, when you get your words back from people whom you think you've had cordial relations with, who you think trust you and even like you enough to ask you to work on a project it's a little bit disturbing. Oh, all is forgiven on my end. I understand that business is stressful and that managers have to hold their charges feet to the fire. Still, a burning toe hurts!

Well, let me send out another message to the world---Hey! I know you're out there reading this. By now you might have gotten that I'm a gentle soul, hard working, in need of more work that actually pays me money. I'm pleasant enough that everybody wants me to volunteer my time for their special cause. But, unfortunately my bank, credit cards, mortgage and grocer won't let me volunteer instead of paying them with legal and tender currency. We all need to earn a buck or a few thousand of them a month.

Hey world? Care to send some work in the direction of this gentle muser? And, perhaps you can actually pay me within 30 days of getting my bill?

And, oh, world? With the state of the U.S. dollar these days, think that my friends overseas will want to hire me?

Well, as Kurt Henschen might share with me, this downturn, too, shall pass.

Meantime, I'll use my extra time to take care to see a dentist, enjoy the gentler days of the waning winter in my part of the world, and to finally post another blog.

RR

Politics...

2008-01-07T07:22:00.001-05:00

I've been avoiding writing about politics. It's hard to say something original without giving away my personal beliefs and party affiliation. Those who know me know that my affiliation is very transparent. I am what I am with no apologies.

I must confess to liking the spectator sport of politics. But, it often makes me wonder about the dexterity of our brains. Why do we forget so fast what we've heard in the past and have unwavering feelings that:
a) people can change their minds?
b) people can change what's in their guts - their convictions?
c) people can learn on the job - and we'd elect them "president?" Remember in olden days they used to call them apprentices or interns.

Well, America, we're in the thick of it. Don't lose your heads over the celebrity personas that these men and woman have.

Benazir Bhutto assassination-famiiar feelings

2007-12-27T23:53:00.001-05:00

In a previous career, I met friends of Bhutto, who have written their own blogs about her death, her career, her devotion to Pakistan and the politics that she inherited from her father. When you get close to people who are great in their own right, and who are friends with other great, historic, or soon-to-be historic figures in world history, well, that's pretty heady stuff. I was fortunate to have worked in the news and talk radio industry and when you work in an industry that provides a conduit for media exposure you meet some very important people, and people who would be important. As a result, when a great person is murdered, I feel for the people I know who knew that person. I had those types of feelings during 9/11, except I actually knew some of the people who died both on a professional and personal level. Today I have the same sense of sorrow for those who shared conversation and friendship with Bhutto as I did for my classmates, and colleagues who lost loved ones in New York and at the Pentagon.

Additionally, I recognize some of the names and voices of those who are asked to comment on her death as I either booked them to appear on talk shows that I produced or represented them as a publicist. Indeed it's something else to feel some link, even if it isn't that direct, to world figures and news events.

I guess it makes me think about the small world we all live in, and how there really aren't that many degrees of separation between all of us, and the powerful few, or elite, who claim control over all of our destinies.

It's the Day after Christmas Day...New Year's Resolutions, anyone?

2007-12-26T06:59:00.001-05:00

I really don't like resolutions. They seem to set you up to not do them. But, I suppose it's good to have reasonable goals. Here's one: I'll get back to going to my Curve's club 3 times a week, even if it means that I have to work out with the sourpusses who work out when the club first opens, 7:30. They don't like the music loud or driving, and they intimidate the club staff into silence. They just want to go through the motions in obstinate silence and if you don't like it you can show up later--like some of us have all the time in the world to break from whatever we're doing to show up later. I might just have to finally set up a two year-ago model of an I-Pod that my husband got me, and program my own workout music. Any Curve's goers know this can interfere with my ability to hear the command, "Change stations now." But, a gal has got to do what she's go to do. I'm just sick of being sick.

Next: make an appointment with my dentist and get my old dentist, one that's not in my current health insurance plan, to pack up my records and send it to the one who is in the plan.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-25T09:17:00.000-05:00

http://www.sallylogue.co.uk/

Chanukah came and went with me being worried about some health issues. After some outpatient surgery, in which the anasthesia knocked the heck out of me, I'm feeling better, although I'm still dealing with backpain, most likely, the result of socoliosis, specificially, the curviture of my lower, sacral discs ofmy spine.

My husbands been dealing with a very harsh cough and possibly bronchitis. It's finally starting to show signs of letting up. We're babysitting for a visitor, a beautiful black lab named Morphias-aka-Mo'Mo'. He's a 3 year old-a puppy. Full of energy, always wanting to play, who has a bit of a Mommy fixation.

Thanks to Sally Logue, an artist in England for posting the portrait you see in this post. You can find her here: http://www.sallylogue.co.uk/

May you live life with great pets, and animals whose only goal is to better understand you better

I'm a part time staffer for a radio reading service for the blind, visually impaired and physically people who cannot effectively read print. And, I often fill in over the holidays. I have some time to sit here and think about the whirlwind of the past few weeks and to add to this blog.

I've been shying away from politics, policy and other controversial issues lately. Frankly, I've been too busy working and trying to wrap my mind around organizing my life and household better. Finally, I'm feeling a little more relaxed. I suppose that comes from being confident in the jopb that I'm now doing, while writing this blog. Also, my husband's friend is a very good doctor, and he put my mind at ease about what some previous lab results have shown.

So, back to me talking to you: I hope that you enjoy these holidays, despite the problems, and challenges, that may be weighing heavily on your mind as they weigh on my mind.

Blog Topics--

2007-11-25T09:23:00.000-05:00

I was pondering why I find it safest to blog about entertainment, sports (or "sport" for my friends across the Atlantic) and books.

I work in an industry that often uses blogs in order to keep clients interested in them, their thoughts, their credentials. So many blogs, in order to be safe from copy-infringement accusations, post links back to websites, and other blogs, where they've found the stuff that they write about. This can be a dangerous thing. For instance, you want to "wow" a client with your brilliant thoughts, and you write a blog about a project, and how similar projects fared, complete with links to words about this similar projects---and those links take you back to your competitors. Well, how do you keep your clients from getting competing proposals, that can threaten your livelihood?

I suppose you've got do a "Smith Barney"--that is, "we make our money the old fashioned way. We earn it." Your competition might cut its rates to get your client, but if you know your client, understand their "institutional history" and make an effort to have face-to-face relationships with them I believe you will keep your clients. They'll see you as part of their team. And, that takes work, and most clients want to see you working for them. Well, that is, well, unless your clients keep pushing you back and then you have to face the facts---you don't have them as clients any longer.

Tofurkey--and it was good

2007-11-23T12:33:00.000-05:00

It's so easy to make I don't want to talk about it, lest it diminish my efforts to put together THE Thanksgiving meal.

I can get it only at Whole Foods, in my neck of the woods. I'd love to get it at other stores because I'm sure the price would go down for this meal. I often feel gouged, well, a wee bit, whenever I go into a Whole Foods.

What's with the New England Patriots?

2007-11-21T19:41:00.000-05:00

Just check out the standings here and you'll see why I'm asking http://www.nfl.com/standings
The team seems like its on steroids.

They're not my team. I grew up rooting for the Jets, and Giants, and went to college in Buffalo, so the Bills always get my attention. Last week's trouncing of the team in Orchard Park hurt.

Why, it seems like the Patriots are the Hypnotoad of the NFL. What ever they do to other teams seems very odd to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_BD_WBg9aA

SUV Guilt, and Other Observations About Being Comforted By Stuff

2007-11-17T20:27:00.000-05:00

I own a 2002 Ford Taurus Wagon...but, I rented a Ford Escape recently while out of town and really liked it. It drove quietly and unlike the feeling of the boxy sports utility vehicles that I rode in 20 years ago, I didn't feel like I would tip over while rounding curves---especially those clove like on and off ramps.

I must admit to feeling sorta guilty about how impressed I was with this SUV. It wasn't the thriftiest of cars that I could have rented. I did put about 100 to 150 miles on it in the four days that I had it and it did cost me about $25.00 to fill it up before turning it in at the airport. But, I guess you can say that this was a luxury car for me as it was brand new and still had that new car smell to it. It probably got the same mileage as my 5 year old station wagon. I didn't do formal calculations. This is more of a guess on my part. So, I suppose American automakers are making their SUVs a little less thirsty than they used to be.

I did have one problem with the key chain remote control for this vehicle--I'd often hit the button that popped open the rear window of the hatch when all I really wanted to do was double check that I locked the vehicle.

If it weren't for the fact that I'm married to a wheelchair user, who, from time to time, has to transfer into my car to get around, I'd consider getting this car for next vehicle. He'd have to find a way to climb up and into the seat, as opposed to just sliding from his chair onto the passenger seat of my current car.

Fortunately, I won't have to cough up the dollars for a new vehicle anytime soon. I work out of a home office, and I am very content to just put 20 or so miles on my current car in a week. With the price of gasoline these days, I'm fortunate to NOT have to fill up the car more than twice a month.

Still, it was a real treat to drive around in a new car while I was away from home. There's nothing like having your own set of wheels while your away -- its your own little big of space and sanctuary. It's a place where you can close the doors and windows and mute the sounds of the outside world. It's the freedom of being able to go to a Target, or grocery store, to stock up on diet sodas and snacks, without having to deal with room service, or getting gouged by the mini-bar in your room.

I suppose that do me the Ford Escape was appropriately named. It gave me the ability to roam around a city that I like, revisit neighborhoods that once upon a time, during the days of my youth when time wasn't such a tight thing to have, I used to visit on foot. It gave me the chance to visit with friends on their turf in the nearby suburbs. And, I delightfully did this in a city where government officials can boast that the average commuter needs only 18 minutes to get to and from work!
Where I live now the average commute is over an hour.

Escape indeed.

Aches and pains

2007-11-15T10:21:00.000-05:00

For over a year I've been working out at a Curves club near my neighborhood. But, for the past couple of weeks I've skipped the workouts. I've been experiencing a host of aches and pains that I've finally got an idea as to their origin. To put it politely, in an old fashioned way, "it's female problems." Nothing that threatens my life, fortunately. I know what I need to do to fix my problems. I need to see an OB-GYN and my internist -- so she can write a referral to that doctor to appease my health insurance company.

Women, I think, tough it out more than men, when it comes to pain. We find excuses for it. We consult each other to explain it away. While it's comforting, it can also help a person, like me, put off finding out what's really going on inside.

I'm in a fortunate situation these days: I work out of a home office, don't have to tough it out through a commute to an office. Don't have to sit there trying to be busy when things truly slow down (and in my line of business, there's a lot of time spent in "holding patterns" while you wait for a decision, or partial payment from a client, before you start work on a new project. So, I've got the luxury of time to go to doctors, medical labs, and sit around waiting for these places to see me. And, I've got time to be distracted by feeling plain old lousy and in pain.

I guess you can say that I'm just fed up with being in pain. I'm fed up with explaining away my discomforts. I need to physically get stuff out of my body and then I'll begin to heal and hopefully, the pain will go away.

And, that's what I feel like writing about today.

So many toys for blogs on the internet

2007-11-14T12:06:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine, and fellow blogger, posted song lyrics on her blog and I just had to give them a try.

And, the YouTube box is so cool too.

What do you think of these little snippets of java code that you can add to the html code of your blogger template?

Like them or no?

Rita

YouTube is everywhere....

2007-11-13T10:48:00.000-05:00

Even on the template of my blog. Seems everybody is using YouTube as a way of guaging public opinions, and public appetites for news. Citizen journalism is what it's called. Now I've made a living working with audio. But, I can't fight it=video is running the world, and influencing decision makers. So, enjoy some video! Rita

Ever Go to a Reunion?

2007-11-04T19:24:00.000-05:00

Last week I went to a reunion of old friends and acquaintences at the college where I got my BA. I had a great time. I cleared away my work schedule so I could spend time roaming around campus and the city where I lived for about 3 years, and had plenty of time to meet up with friends for meals. Well, it's a week later and I miss the town and my friends.

The gathering reminded me of all the energy I had and of the relatively carefree times I had in college. Plus, I was reminded so much why I enjoyed being in that city. The pace of life is much slower there and the attitude of strangers toward one another is considerably warmer there than where I currently live just outside of Washington, DC.

Simpsonize me.....

2007-09-17T08:59:00.000-04:00

Thanks for your previous comments. OK...tell me what my character is doing, and in what part of Springfield.

Which Simpson's Show character would have a crush on me?

2007-08-13T10:47:00.000-04:00

So, I went on the Simpsonizeme.com website.

This is how I'd look in the world of The Simpson's.

So, c'mon Simpsons fans! Which character would develop a crush on me?

Be creative!

By the way, Mr. Rita's Musings --aka--the guy I've been married to for over 16 years thinks the Simpsonized Rita is sexy. Must be the capris pants and the Angelina Jolie lips! :)

Have fun!
Leave your comments.

Confession Time-I almost Deleted this Blog

2007-08-04T10:14:00.000-04:00

I was going to announce, "That's all folks." I was feeling a little bit busy with work--and thank goodness I'm busy, which means I can pay my bills and my taxes, and maybe stash a little dosh away for when my brunette head becomes completely white.

But, I also was reading a lot of other blog posts. All great. All well thought out and quite amusing. These posts were on current events, personalities, radio formats, journalism and other topics that I'm interested in.

Why oh why does the world need Rita's Musings?

Maybe I need the time to post content. Perhaps working a keyboard and publishing these ponderings, thoughts and observations is good therapy.

Sometimes, my thoughts need a place to go. Usually I use them to generate publicity and success for others. I suppose I need to just exhale and relax with them from time to time.

So--I'll see you in another month?

Rita

Website relaunched, This Is For The Soldiers...

2007-08-04T10:08:00.000-04:00

Please check out the new website. It's got new, powerful graphics.

Rita

Greenstone Media

2007-08-04T10:02:00.000-04:00

GREENSTONE MEDIA is preparing to close its doors as of AUGUST 17, unless other arrangements can be put into play. Word is that VP/Operations JIM LAMARCA is working the phones and alerting affiliates as you read this.

Here's my chance to show my radio roots. Yes, this blogger had an 18 year career behind the mic and behind the scenes in radio. In fact--confession time, I'm writing this blog as I'm running board for a radio reading service for the blind. I'm a radio fan.

I think women enjoy being mentored by other women. Talk that was meant for women needed more content, and veteran voices, that is, women who have more experience than the average 20-35 year old guy/dude DJ or giggling girl-like sidekick.

I want to hear from an older and wiser person that I should do something: listen, write, read, try, consider. I have no patience for idle gossip about people who, as my mother said, “don’t listen to stories about me and don’t care about me.”

Women enjoy hearing about new ways to take care of themselves, and others. Women also enjoy the raunchier side of life—the “Sex and the City” type of discussions that we have amongst ourselves, complete with knowing smirks and glances.

It takes deep pockets to market and whet the appetites of young listeners, to condition them that content created exclusively for them is something they can develop the habit of seeking. And, it takes women with deep pockets to sponsor this type of talk and to inspire that talent keep it fresh, with surprises, for the listeners.

A trade e-letter, called AllAccess reports If the network itself doesn't survive, there is a good chance that a number of its shows may still be around. I hope so. So many folks in radio, listeners, and professionals, have complained that new talent is hard to find, both on and off the air. (Talent and their support staff.) I would hate for this conduit for on and off air talent to be permanently “benched.”

This is For the Soldiers-More than Just a Happy Fourth of July

2007-07-03T15:18:00.001-04:00

This is For the Soldiers-More than Just a Happy Fourth of July

2007-07-03T15:08:00.000-04:00

While the nation enjoys its trips to beach resorts, grandmother’s house, ball parks and taking in the latest action film involving fake terrorists and explosions America’s troops are overseas. Put out the Flag. Raise a few glasses to toast the soldiers, then get online and look at the video and sign a petition.

The petition calls for the sponsors of the Lane-Evans Bill to get ‘on their feet’ and get the bill pushed through Congress and make the mental-health needs of our soldiers a priority.

To interview Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America, about the petition, and the “This Is For The Soldiers” campaign and the Lane-Evans bill please call Rita Rich at 301/404-9609 or e-mail info@ritarichmedia.net

Done with Gloss

2007-05-28T19:39:00.001-04:00

What a fun read! Written in a PG 13 style---some foul language (heck it's about a TV producer. That's reality) Not much in terms of steamy sex scenes. It's a fast-paced romance novel, with just enough NYC and DC geography sprinkled about you wonder if the book's characters are just coincidental.

Reading more books these days....

2007-05-20T10:08:00.000-04:00

I just started a new book--a sexy little suspence novel called
Gloss written by a TV network news producer named Jennifer Oko. It's one of those books that I'm sure I'll be ripping through in no time because it's fiction. And, I can relate to its settings --
newsrooms and news control rooms.

www.jenniferoko.com
I'm going to ask my blogger friends to read and write more about this book. It has enough behind the scenes flavor to pique the curiosity of those who are in "the business."

Meantime look for the book online and in bookstores near you! You'll be sure to want to consume it like candy.

Defending a Client

2007-05-06T09:38:00.000-04:00

My husband and I had dinner with another couple last night and I was challenged to explain the differences between IAVA and other vets groups. What I should've said was that I'm not an expert on other Vet groups, and I barely touch the depths of the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of American while I'm asking radio talk show hosts and news desks to interview Paul Rieckhoff and the other spokesmen from the group. But, I did recently finish reading Paul's book Chasing Ghosts.

Now, reading a book does't make a person an expert about another person. But, I do feel like I understand the founder and executive director of this organization a heckuva lot better than I used to. I encourage you to pick up a copy of Paul's book because he lets us in on the ugly blood and guts of Iraqui freedom that the media didn't have access to. (Why they didn't or couldn't is a topic for another blog, and has been covered by numerous others who were there.)

Back to what I feel more qualified to write about....

I think, what makes Paul's group unique is that he and his guys were in combat, and can better analyze the mistakes, misteps and shortsighted decisions that were made just before "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was launched. And, you get to read about his thoughts based, in part, on journals he kept, and conversations he had, with his buddies, while he was on active duty.

I suppose some people find it hard to stomach that a guy who signed up to become a killer in uniform, a battlefield commander, an officer in the National Guard, would write about the the lousy way the war came to be, is being conducted, and how his boys, (now veterans) are being taken care of by the government ---and indeed, by their fellow countrymen and women. Afterall, isn't it against some sort of oath of office that he cannot besmirch the reputation, or badmouth the commander-n-chief? Well, not when you are NOT active duty. And, why do people think that just because he is critical that he would undermine the security of the very men he commanded? How idiotic is that thinking? You don't become a Lieutenant by undermining the safety and well being of the guys who you tell to "take the shot," and kill the bad guys; or the guys who you would hope would shield you from the blast from an IED. (Read his book. You'll feel like your watching the war from his perspective unfold like a movie.)

I think that we, as Americans, confuse love of country, with silence about the stupid things government does or doesn't do. Do not believe for one minute that just because you consider yourself a patriot that you have no choice but to "put a cork in it" and shut up. Paul includes a quote from Mark Twain in his book that goes something like this, ' love of country, always...love of my government, not a given. ' Find that chapter.

I'll always love my country. But, our country was founded by people who argued vehemently amongst themselves about the government that they were in the midst of creating, trying out, and recreating. We fight to instill that premise in our friendships with other nations around the world. I think we can afford to have dynamic debate without having to shut-up opposing points of views. And, I think this great nation can afford to do a heckuva lot better by ALL our generations of veterans. We have to. We'll never be able to maintain an all volunteer Army if we fail our men and women who sacrifice life, limb and mental health for us.

The War-Chasing Ghosts by Paul Rieckhoff

2007-04-24T17:00:00.000-04:00

I'm reading a book called Chasing Ghosts by the Executive Director of the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America,Paul Rieckhoff, and I'm not an impartial bystander. Paul hired me to book him onto radio shows to talk about his book, which is coming out in paperback in May.

His publisher sent me a box of review copies, which I'm sending out to some talk show hosts and acquaintances of mine. I cracked open the book and have been having a hard time putting it down. It's very good reading. It feels like an action/adventure movie--only this is the real thing and I know the narrator. I guess I'm going to be a little "star-struck" when I meet Paul in person. If he were a nephew or son of mine I'd be "kvelling," or talking very proudly, about him. He's one of those boys who must have been a great student because he went to a fancy little Ivy League school. He grew up as a strong, patriotic kid, and he signed up to join the National Guard after he graduated from his university. He joined up because of a sense of duty and adventure and as a great parallel life to the one that he lived working at a well known NYC brokerage firm. He was one of those graduates of the haughty 90s who could leave school and make more their first year in the work force than their parents made 25 to 30 years in the workforce. In other words, he joined the military not because he had no other options, but because he had (and still does have) a sense of duty.

Paul describes the guys, "his boys," who he has to take care of and lead as one of the first troops to set up shop in Baghdad. He talks about giving orders for snipers to take their best shots at the bad guys, and the images of those bad guys slumping behind their SUVs or into the shadows after being hit. He talks about a renewed sense of purpose helping to provide safety and security for an Iraqi school because the kids are so beautiful and really smart---not to mention how they worshiped these big American guys, in combat uniform and heavy gear.
....
I can go on.
Bottom line-read the book and understand how a young officer worked with the Army he had in Iraq and think about the soldiers who are there now. Read Paul's book and gain insight into how things were NOT thought out and boldly planned for before the first missiles were fired and the first Air Force planes made their deadly strikes. See how intelligent, well informed grad students/weekend warriors knew that they were putting themselves in harms way without proper training, and read how Paul did what he could to help prepare his boys, despite being chewed out by superiors who felt he was making them look bad by taking the initiative. See how our leaders have let us down by just presenting the false facade of a war and a mission--and compare that to the reality of real lives and limbs being at risk; real blood and tears that have been shed by ALL parties involved.

I'm not done with Paul's book. I don't know his conclusions. I do know that Paul's post-combat story continues. He and his comrades are trying to work to make sure the' Army that we have,' (to paraphrase former defense sec Rumsfeld)have better options when they come home. The ripple effects of this war are staggering. To find out more do check out www.iava.org

I grew up playing with GI Joe dolls with the boys on my street (Brooklyn, and Suffolk County, NY) during the Vietnam Era. I believed what a lot of kids believed, that warriors were like Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation." Some came back messed in the head, some came back in wheelchairs--but, I too watched as the national cemetery in Farmingdale had to be expanded, and enlarged, time and time again, and observed the stark increase of tombstones in the mid to late 1970s. I saw the war movies and believed in Americans fighting just wars--wars we could all support, and fighting to stop wars that the country grew tired of. 13 years in a losing effort in Vietnam seems like an awful waste to me. I don't want there to be 13 years in a losing effort in Iraq. I want more homework, intelligent-intelligence to be done. I want more thinking about the scenarios of working with the different cultures, religious factions, munitions, sociological brainwashing to happen before we put boots down in a place--anyplace, for any socio-economic reason.

I want debate to be based on ALL the facts, not just some of the facts. And, I want those facts to be truth based.

Is that too much to ask for?

37th Anniversary of Earth Day

2007-04-22T09:30:00.000-04:00

I suppose it's fitting for me to break my "blog" silence by posting on Earth Day.
I remember my first Earth Day. Back in 1970 I was in kindergarten. (That gives you a hint as to my age.) A cool man whose name I don't remember, but I do remember that he had long hair and a full, long beard, came to my elementary school and helped supervise us kids as we picked up trash in our playground. We each were rewarded green environmentalists stickers.

I do public relations from time to time for environmental/conservation groups. I don't think I got into it because some groovy young guy with lots of hair thought I was a good little girl. I think I have always found solice in the great outdoors.

Back in the day, when I was growing up in the western part of Suffolk County, Long Island, NY, you could take your dog for a walk in the woods. The only things you had to worry about were deer ticks. No boogey men who would molest little girls. Now and then you'd come upon kids who rode the horses that they kept at their grandma and grandpas house, as they travelled on the bridle paths. I'd hang out in a little pine tree forest with my dog, a shetland sheepdog, who I still miss. I spent 13 years walking with that dog, in the woods, and along what would later become the service road of the Long Island Expressway--before it was paved and before the neighbors felt threatened by the sight of a kid and her dog, "cutting through" their backyards.

It wasn't a quiet walk in my neighborhood, despite the rich foliage, that included lots of ferns, oaks, and firs. The roar of the big L-I-E was a constant. My house was further away, by perhaps a quarter to half a mile from what was then only a 6 lane highway. Houses on the roads closer to the Expressway heard the constant hum of tires on concrete quite a few decibals louder than I did.

I enjoyed living on Long Island....the even, wave-like rythms of the wind rustling the leaves on the trees. The salty-from-the-sea breezes that kept the pollen levels down and the air from becoming stifling humid in the summer time.

The outdoors was my place to be alone and away from the bullies that were the pretty, or cool boys and girls of the schools I went to. I wasn't trapped inside with my own thoughts. I could share them with my pets---a few years after I began my walks with my dog,our family's indoor/outdoor cat would trail after us, on a parallel course that we took through the woods.

Which leads me to ponder about the Virginia Tech murderer. Here was a young man who didn't have the solice of woods and pets. He had a suburban townhouse in Northern Virginia, but he didn't live in a time when a kid could just walk by himself, with a dog, and clear his head. I often remark to friends and acquaintences about how lucky I feel to have lived in a time when a kid could be trusted to go out on her own without her parents feeling her life was in jeopardy. We could explore the woods, or the empty areas near the fenced in rain drainage pond that are plentiful on the Island (they called them sumps.) and nobody felt like we would be accosted by some psycho sickos. I would come back from my walks with my self esteam mended by nature after a bad experiences on the school bus, school cafeteria, or classroom, all places a shy kid like me was picked on----and,two or three years before I was lucky enough to get special attention for a speech impediment----in regular school, during regular school hours, that helped me speak well. I learned how to pronounce words properly. It wasn't because I was born in a foreign land. No, I was born in Brooklyn, NY, the youngest of 3 daughters. My older sisters did a lot of talking for me. So, I needed extra help developing speech skills to properly pronounce words, and speak outload with confidence. This happened in a public school sytem.
It happened because teachers had the resources to help me.

also was lucky enough to get pulled out of regular class a few minutes, a couple times of week, to attend a special reading lab. We had the resources to get me the help I needed, without me ever feeling like I was being treated like a dumb-kid, or a slow kid in "special classes."

I can only imagine what a child today must go through, cooped up in a home and a system that didn't make him feel safe and secure. No, I'm not blaming society for the massacre at VT. They tried to help the killer. But, somehow, the killer just didn't feel like he could be helped. He didn't find solace. He was desperate for a solution and finally settled on one that nobody could fathom.

So, how's it going by you?

2007-03-03T19:06:00.000-05:00

I've got a friend who started a very wonderful blog called Chickaboomer.com.
Marty is very funny. She talks about all the stuff that I like to laugh at. All that tabloid trash. Check it out. This blog is a place to rest weary minds and eyes. It's desert after a day of watching Fox talking about the Anna Nicole Smith story as if it were the only story out there.

I've been working setting up radio interviews for a much more serious group. I encourage you to check out the website for the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America. This group is made up of active military men and women who are still serving, and are likely to be called to serve again. As you may imagine the Walter Reed Army Medical Center story has been keeping me very busy.

I don't understand why some folks don't want to interview the IAVA. They confuse questioning authority with treason. Nobody said that to the Nazis who claimed they could do nothing to prevent the slaughter of millions of Romas, Jews, Christian dissidants, Russians and those who dared to say, "I disagree." In fact, those who just went along with it all found themselves on the wrong end of a noose! Yet, some are implying that vets in America have to put up, suck it in, and shut up. We've got a citizen based military. You take an oath to obey orders, and uphold the Constitution. We don't live in a fascist nation. We're allowed to question orders, and provide opinions. Heck, even Supreme Court Justices write dissenting opinions. So, I don't understand why the self-proclaimed "fair and balanced network" is so intersted in avoiding IAVA and would rather provide tabloid trash to its valued audience.

And, just because another news organization broke the news that you dared not look at (the Washington Post) doesn't mean its not news. In fact even the most loyal audiences would gawk at the news, which is as disgusting as gawking at a casket that contains the rotted remains of what was once a flamboyant blond American woman.

At some point we're going to have to face the not so fancy music of how ugly we treat each other when it comes to money. Don't blame it on bureaucrats. The bureaucrat works within an organization to push things through it. Bad ones need to be exposed. And, for Pete's sake! If there aren't enough of them we all suffer the consequences of not having our hard earned tax dollars put to better use, or just the plain old use that they were budgeted for.

So, that's how it's going for me. I've got a lot of pent up thoughts since my last post. I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts

Cold-BRRR-Snap

2007-02-14T18:28:00.000-05:00

So, it's cold, icy and cold. I have a broken toe. And I had to clear the frozen crap off my car and my husband's mini-van. And, it's heavy stuff---stuff that would jam up a snow blower.

I'm in a bad mood because of my morning shoveling experience.

Amazing how a pain in the foot can ruin your whole day.

How's by you?

Joining the Ranks of the Forever Young....

2007-02-08T19:24:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen I give you the sad story of the now dearly departed Anna Nicole Smith, the buxony blond bombshell who never did find her prince charming.

I feel sorry for the lady and her new baby.

Don't know why.

Guess that after all that publicity and time in front of moving and still cameras you'd wish that the there would've been a happily ever after.

At least we've moved the 24/7/365 news channels away, temporarily, from the Astronaut in a diaper story.

Finally NASA In the Headlines!

2007-02-06T10:02:00.000-05:00

Hey there. Boy has it been awhile. I've been busy working on this and that.

And, today, there's no new news. Bush is still appropriating funds for the troop surge in Iraq. The Democrats seem to be as powerless against the GOP to stop him as they were before they won their slim majority back in November. (Seems the GOP knows how to rally their members of Congress and hold their "lines" like in Revolutionary war times)

And now, the story of the month: That lady astronaut who put on a diaper and drove from Houston to Orlando to meet the adulteress who wanted to do adult things she wanted to do with the adulterer, whom Nowak wants to do adult things with an thereby cheat on her husband with (or wanting to cheat on her husband with.)

Well, at least now Americans are paying attention to NASA!

But, seriously, you've got to feel for this very disturbed lady and her husband and kids...let alone the lady whom she maced! I'm not sure how to feel about that guy astronaut that is the astro-amour in the middle of it all. I hope he was worth it.

Beautiful tributes in the blog world

2007-01-08T09:02:00.000-05:00

My friend was anonymous in the flesh, unless you worked for progressive causes or were a democrat on Capitol Hill.

But, in the virtual world of the blogger, my friend was being mourned for, days before I encountered her obituary at work and in the Washington Post.

She was revered.

But, that was the virtual world. Still--and I guess I'm going back and forth on this--considering how private my friend was about her life, this might be just the way she would have wanted it.

Reading a friend's obituary in the paper...

2007-01-07T15:12:00.000-05:00

Actually, hearing it read at the radio reading service for the blind where you work...and being stunned. My text is blue today because a nice lady, who encouraged me and gave me confidence when I started my own business died on New Year's Eve, a day before she was to turn 53.

She was the type of person who would be taken advantage of by her clients and her friends. As a result, she seldom got paid in advance, let alone, within a few days of submitting an invoice. And, sadly
her financial health got in the way of her being able to take care of her physical health. She didn't have health insurance. But, she had a history of heart trouble. She didn't complain about any problems to friends. Even her closest allies were shocked to hear about her death. I suppose she didn't go to doctors because money was tight.

Friends say that the coroner determined that she died instantaneously from heart failure in the middle of the night.

The police were called after friends and her sister couldn't get her on the phone for over a day.

Her obituary was one of the nicest ones I've ever read; full of quotes from a virtual Who's Who of the political world. Yet, this friend of mine was very private, very hard working and very proud. I'm sure if she asked for help from somebody she would have gotten it. Now help is being offered post-mortem.

Sad.

So terribly, terribly sad.

Weight loss continues....and a Happy New Year to You!

2007-01-05T09:02:00.000-05:00

I suppose I owe my continued successes losing weight to the fact that I didn't socialize this holiday season. I wasn't invited to any holiday parties and that was fine by me. I was actually quite busy working and wrapping up contract work that expired on December 31st and working on new proposals for 2007. I work for myself as a freelance/independenct contractor. And, it appears I'll be able to continue to work for myself next year.

I have a nice slate of clients that include individuals, a publisher, a government contractor and non profits---big non profits. It's a relief to know that eventually money will land in my checking account.

Meantime, I went on a work related spending spree, ordering a new soundcard for my PC and more RAM. Still need to get the RAM from the manufacturer. Next step...back up more files to an external harddrive and read up on how allegedly easy it is to tinker around in your computer's tower.

I've never fooled around with the guts of my computer. But, I've watched as others have fooled around with the guts of computers. The confidence to mess around with something that seems to hold onto so much information and do so much at the same time is...well, a little unnerving. But, as my husband says about all sorts of situations, "People who are clearly idiots do (insert daunting task here)everyday. We can handle this too."

To any of my friends and acquaintences, even total strangers who stumble upon this blog, please have a safe journey, whereever you go, in 2007.

RR

Since September I've lost about 15 lbs.

2006-12-02T14:00:00.000-05:00

Not too shabby, eh?
Well, that's the whole point of it; to become less shabby and more shapely.
Thanksgiving was a little rough but I'm proud that I maintained weight-and didn't gain any. This week I managed to trim off a half a pound. Now, I've got to hold tight until glutonous Hannukkah and Christmas passes.

It's not just the holidays that make a person want to eat more, I think its winter time. The sun goes down at around 4:30. I feel tired earlier and feel the need to eat something that will give me a sugar burst and keep me going. But, having to track and write down the food I eat, including grams of carbohydrate, fiber, protein, fat as well as calories, well, that does help me stop and think twice about my cravings.

I hope everybody who stumbles upon this blog does something that's good/healthy for them. Stay cozy with those you love, and drink my portion of the eggnog for me.

RR

Vanity may save my life update!

2006-11-20T11:14:00.000-05:00

Down 14 pounds. Now to get through the holidays without gaining any of it back!
Oh, lost a wee bit around the bust line and abdomen too.

Busy working. The mid terms were interesting. All sorts of people wanted to pipe in about their points of view before November 7th. And, as it's my job to get them press, and get them on the radio....well, I was busy.

Off to see family in NC early Wednesday AM.

Should be fun! I'll also be seeing an old friend that weekend.

Busy-Busy-Busy!

Disney Fruit

2006-10-17T09:38:00.000-04:00

Look for hybrid cauliflower shaped like Mickey's Ears

Well, aren't I happy that I'm part of the no sweets, low fat trend!

I did lose 5.5 lbs since I started eating high protein and started moving my touchas at Curves.

Anybody else going to that gym whose mission statement is "Empowering Women?"

Vanity may save my life....

2006-10-12T21:21:00.000-04:00

I write this post as the Mets host St. Louis in Game 1 of their series.

I hope they continue to do well. I'm sure enthusiasm for this game at Shea is muted because it occurs a day after the Yankee pitcher and his flight instructor crashed and died into that high rise.

I need to watch the glycemic index of the foods that I eat. Seems I'm following the genetic blueprint of my family--I'm periously close to developing diabetes.

About a month ago I joined a health club for women called Curves. And, I'm attending weekly meetings and following the Curves 6 week food plan.

Now, I've been living in a body whose weight has been creeping up for the past 13 years. But, I havn't been in the mindset to think about it. But, vanity is probably going to save me a lot of grief as I age. I have a college reunion in a few months and an even bigger gathering in a year. I want to look better than I do, and I want to feel better than I do.

I suppose I can continue to blog about why I'm finally paying attention to my diet and working out at least 3 times a week. So, bare with me. This is important to me.

And, I do hope that the ball club of my childhood, the team that I felt a part of as a kid, rekindles that same spark that made me so happy so long ago.

Could It Be the Mets?

2006-09-24T16:01:00.000-04:00

tip of the hat to the NY Daily News for this shot from Dog Day at Shea!

Let's Go Mets!

2006-09-19T14:26:00.000-04:00

Please, please let them not blow it!
Yup. I'm a Met fan. Rather, I'm a born Met fan.
Mom grew up rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Dad for the NY Giants.
Combine the Dodger Blue with the Giant Orange, shake and oila! Met fan children.

More to come. I've chosen to post my feelings minutes before Blogger's scheduled outage. Don't want to hold me or them up any longer.

Strive Notes

2006-09-13T12:58:00.000-04:00

Strive Notes

Do you shut up when you have all the answers? Do you stick your neck out?
Do you just add the bills to your billfold and shrug your shoulders?
What if the client isn't always right?
Interesting comments from my friend, and associate, Sherrilynne Starkie's blog.

Rita

Does the Statue of Liberty Weep?

2006-09-09T22:45:00.000-04:00

Does the Statue of Liberty weep when 9/11 comes around?
Do Americans, all of us, get a good night sleep, when 9/11 comes around?
Do we all feel like swallowing back, the tears that build up deep in side?
Will we ever regain that confidence that we all once took in stride?
When the bells toll at 8:49 will the curtains in Heaven part?
Will the souls that we lost that day lend us their brave hearts?
Will we learn how to be brave and keep our eyes in a steady gaze...when the TV shows us Lady Liberty looking out through that morning's haze?
Will we notice the Statue weeping when 9/11 comes around?
Or will we have our eyes averted in prayer, looking at the ground?
Have we gotten battle hardened or do we all still feel the pain?
Will we forget the people lost on that awful day?
Will the heroes we look up to weep on 9/11 and think of us that day?
Or will they think their same old thoughts and think only who they can blame?

Labor Day Weekend

2006-09-03T15:58:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my three day weekend. I'm a patriot. I'm a proud American and a republican in the classic sense of the word. My monotheism makes it impossible for me to like in monarchies. Maybe it's because generations of my family members were seen as less then full citizens of the countries where they lived and most of those countries were ruled by monarchies. Or maybe the way some people adore their royalty seems to go against my religion. Feel free to debate me on this. I'd love for somebody to post a comment or two on my blog!

That said, I do belive in heroes and heroism. I've been thinking a lot about the people we root for when we watch TV. I like the unswerving characters of Jack Bauer in "24" and I like the abnoxious, self confident, and often right Dr. Gregory House in "House." Yup. Fox TV does fiction well. I like take charge characters who work for the common good, and not just their own self interests. You can debate me as to whether House fills that bill! Go ahead!

Middle East stuff:
News reports say that Israel says its troops will be out of Lebanon in a couple of weeks, just in time for the Jewish New Year. It appears that once again World War III has been averted. Praise to G-d. Those who've read earlier posts may well note that I was afraid that the Isaeli invasion of Lebanon would lead to a very bad war.

I still am not sure that anybody has followed up and asked about the whereabouts and safety of the Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas. The last I read Israel was looking into a deal that would have them trade 1,000 detainees in their prisons for the soldier. Yet, there's nothing written about the 20 year old soldier's status. Yes, he just turned 20 a few days ago. When I turned 20 I was worried about what outfit I would be wearing when I went out with my parents to celebrate my birthday.

Hurricane Katrina "Anniversary" My job is media relations and public relations.
I've been working with the American Red Cross to help them put out stories that few in the public know about, that is, unless they volunteer for the Red Cross. So many people work so hard to help others when a crisis hits. It's not just the big headline making stuff, but even the smaller "in the neighborhood stuff."
I know that I'll definately be taking some classes that the Red Cross offers. I'm inspired by the dozens of people I've met since "Katrina/Rita/Wilma" last year.

Schools back! Hooray! My husband's a subsitute teacher (that's to supplement our household income.) He still reviews movies for a prominent radio network--but the pay for that is, well, nothing to write about. The nice thing about the teaching stuff is that he seems to like it, and it could lead to a position with benefits. This will help us stash some cash away for the time when we both cannot bring in a pay check. The other nice thing is that he gets to show the best side of himself, the side that cares how well the kids are absorbing the stuff that he's trying to teach them. His "mensch-ness" comes out. I like that about him.

I do hope that you all check out www.redcross.org. The web site will be going through stylistic changes very soon. But, in the meantime, it's full of good information and inspiring stories written by volunteers about volunteers. And, you may see my name pop up in the credits from time to time.

Meantime.....
Be careful out there, this hurricane season!

Rita

It's been nearly a month since my last post

2006-08-17T14:31:00.000-04:00

I've been busy with projects, family visits to our area, and the feeling that whatever I might write on this blog will be woefully mundane and not really say much.

Since my last musings:
Israel and Lebanon have entered a cease fire.

The U.S. has yet to be hit by a major hurricane.

My region of the U.S. has been in a sort of drought--typical August weather of scorching sun, smoggy days, followed by days of partly cloudy skies, less humid air, and still not a decent rain fall to green up the grass.

The house finches are thriving, as are the squirrels, chipmonks, and rabbits in my flower garden.

Gasoline prices have dipped closer to the $3.17/gl mark and that's good!

I've been encouraged to take a CPR and First Aid class at my local chapter of the American Red Cross.

I've discovered that I'm allergic to a type of liquid soap that you can buy at a fancy soap store at my local mall.

See what I mean?

The only bright spot since my last posting is that I continue to be in love with the most awesome Black Labrador Retriever. He's the third of my three dogs, a certified assistance animal that is partnered with my husband, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. This dog is an angel of an animal.

If you are curious about the program that trained this fella,
www.caninecompanions.org is where you'll find all the information you'll need!

War Continues--We're Waiting for the Other Shoe To Drop in The U-S

2006-07-26T11:50:00.000-04:00

It's sad. It's sad because innocent people get killed in war. It's sad because politicians use war as a tool as an end to many means.

It's sad because so much money gets poured into war and not enough money gets poured into peace. But, then....it's sad because I don't know what peace costs and how many bribes people will accept beyond what their hearts and minds hold dear.

People pray to G-D for victory for their side. But, even the most 'holy' of men and women will take life in order to preserve the lives they hold dear and their way of life.

I don't have solutions. As my blog indicates, these are merely musings.

World War III

2006-07-16T22:39:00.000-04:00

I was going to write something glib.
But, Israel and Lebanon are on my mind.
I want peace as much as anybody does. But, I cannot stand thinking about brazen attacks on soldiers going unanswered. As an American we tolerate these actions overseas, against our US troops. We want to do the "Cowboy Diplomacy" of Bush rhetoric. "Bring it on." "Dead or Alive." "Let's roll." We don't. We want to. We don't. In Israel they don't just use rhetoric. They plan. They calculate. When hoodlums creep into their side of the border, attack, kill and then snag a soldier, they get even.

And, I hate to admit it--but, I agree with a lot of what Newt Gingrich and what he said on "Meet The Press" on NBC TV. Thanks to MSNBC here's an excerpt from his appearance:

MR. NEWT GINGRICH: Well, let me, let me offer three observations. First, this is not the fifth day of the war. This is the 58th year of the effort by those who want to destroy Israel. As Ahmadinejad, the head of Iran, says, he wants to defeat the Americans and eliminate Israel from the face of the earth. So we should not see this event in isolation. There is an Iran/Iraq/Syria—I mean, an Iran/Syria—was an Iraq before Saddam was replaced—Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas alliance trying to destroy Israel.

Second, the Israelis withdrew from Gaza to create the circumstance of peace. The Israelis withdrew from south Lebanon to create the circumstance of peace. They now have a thousand missiles fired from Gaza, they’ve had hundreds of missiles fired from south Lebanon. You clearly have Iranian involvement, there are at least 400 Iranian guards in south Lebanon. Apparently it was an Iranian missile fired by Iranians which hit an Israeli warship yesterday. The United States should be saying to Syria and Iran, “South Lebanon is going to be cleared out. We are for Israel and the Lebanese government breaking the back of Hezbollah, getting rid of all 10,000 to 13,000 missiles, and we will decisively stop any effort by Syria and Iran to intervene.”

I mean, this is absolutely a question of the survival of Israel, but it’s also a question of what is really a world war. Look what you’ve been covering: North Korea firing missiles. We say there’ll be consequences, there are none. The North Koreans fire seven missiles on our Fourth of July; bombs going off in Mumbai, India; a war in Afghanistan with sanctuaries in Pakistan. As I said a minute ago, the, the Iran/Syria/Hamas/Hezbollah alliance. A war in Iraq funded largely from Saudi Arabia and supplied largely from Syria and Iran. The British home secretary saying that there are 20 terrorist groups with 1200 terrorists in Britain. Seven people in Miami videotaped pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda, and 18 people in Canada being picked up with twice the explosives that were used in Oklahoma City, with an explicit threat to bomb the Canadian parliament, and saying they’d like to behead the Canadian prime minister. And finally, in New York City, reports that in three different countries people were plotting to destroy the tunnels of New York.

I mean, we, we are in the early stages of what I would describe as the third world war, and frankly, our bureaucracies aren’t responding fast enough, we don’t have the right attitude about this, and this is the 58th year of the war to destroy Israel. And frankly, the Israelis have every right to insist that every single missile leave south Lebanon and that the United States ought to be helping the Lebanese government have the strength to eliminate Hezbollah as a military force, not as a political force in the parliament, but as a military force in south Lebanon.

What say you, my friends, and readers? I don't want the US to fight anymore than necessary. But, methinks the US is going to let Israel do what its been wanting to do for a long, long time: clean up a bunch of terrorists with ties to Syria and the missiles in Haifa and on Israeli war ships prove, Iran.

What say you?

Chinese Fortune Cookie Sez....

2006-07-09T19:46:00.000-04:00

"Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians."

I have a friend who says their family tradition it to add the tag line, "in bed."

"Nature,time and patience are the three great physicians in bed." Well, it depends on what's ailing you!

I actually got that fortune cookie after eating at a vegetarian Chinese Restaurant.
Nature is now forcing me to spend time in the commode, and I hope that others display great patience with me because I'm in there a lot today!

Bird update: We seem to have adjusted well to the birds. We're just not using our backyard light as much. I don't have the heart to kick them out.

And, for those who missed my ouch posting! My car is all better, although I'll need to go back to the body shop to have them replace some sort of plastic fastener that holds a piece of rubber molding to the frame underneath the front end of my car.

House Finch

2006-07-01T12:13:00.000-04:00

So, I took down the nest, near a very hot (when on) halogen floodlight, that is mounted just under the eves of my roof line, in my suburban Maryland home. And, just as the National Wildlife Federation's chief naturalist, Craig Tufts said, the birds are back.

Tufts said that finches typically take two days to build a nest, and then lay one egg for each day in that nest. So, he suggested that I take down the nest as soon as I could, and feel free to just "drop" the one egg that he expected in there. Well, fortunately, I didn't find any eggs the first and second time I dissassembled that nest. But, I didn't have anything to screen off and fence off that area, like they do in shopping areas. And, I didn't have time to shop for such materials before it began thundering and lightning, and raining inches a day in my area, for three straight days. And, I couldn't keep up with the finches. And, my husband felt that they were doing the best they could to build a shelter from the wild weather and......well....now, instead of leaving that light on for hours at a time, I turn it on only when I need my dogs to see what's going on in the backyard when they need to at night.

I'm worried that the hay and dried grass and twigs will burst into flames if the light stays on for too long.

I just hope the birds eggs' aren't being slowly "fried" everytime I turn on that light. (Maybe it's acting like Rita's incubator?)

Meantime, this is the fourth of fifth family of finches that have made areas outside my home their home!

To paraphrase "Romeo and Juliet."
" 'Tis the Lark!"
"No, 'tis the Nightingale! We can stay in bed with each other longer!"
"No, it's those darn birds that didn't want to take the hint and move their nests away from a very hot flood light in Rita's backyard! And, they're up just before dawn's first light!"