Running From Kathy Bates

My friends seem to dig the fact that I now run to stay in shape. They encourage me and give me kudos all the time. But it drives me nuts when I hear them say, “Oh, ‘I’ could never do that.” I say, “Yes you can!” Because — as of this writing — none of my friends are paraplegics. As we used to say back in the day: there’s nothing to it but to do it. And here are a few tools to help.

A Beautiful Day for a Protest

Two friends invited me to go with them to the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City and I said yes for purely selfish reasons. First, I hoped to get a good story out of it. Second, the weather forecast said it was going to be 80 degrees and sunny. What better conditions to exercise my constitutional rights? Yes, I’m a fair-weather protester. I don’t work for the United States Post Office. If the forecast had been for rain, snow, sleet or hail, the most protesting I would have done would have been to hole up in a Starbucks and send an angry email. 

Running at the Speed of Evolution

When I hoped for the chance to do another 5K run before the end of the Summer, I never dreamed I’d be doing it in another country. September found me in the Middle East on my seventh tour with Armed Forces Entertainment. While staying at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, the head of our security team knew I liked to run and mentioned that the base was doing a 5K Freedom Run to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of September 11. Perfect! I was all in. I did blanche a bit when he told me that the run was at six o’clock in the morning. But hey, when I wished for a chance to run, I neglected to tell the Universe what time would be good for me.  

I Almost Went to Jail Today

This morning, I saw a Little Girl sitting in the park by herself. She was quiet and content but that was hardly the point. She looked to be about four-years-old, entirely too young to be by herself without a conspicuous, supervising guardian near by. There was no one. 

My Furry Baby Part Two

At around 7:15am on Sunday, my dog Rolie became very ill. He couldn’t walk, his head rolled to the side at an odd angle, and it looked like he was having a stroke. We rushed him to the vet who diagnosed him with Canine Vesticular Disorder, an affliction common to older dogs. He’s been at the Vet for several days now, recovering more slowly than we would like. We miss him dearly and can’t wait for him to come home. And so I’m re-posting a blog I wrote a few years ago about a similar brush we had with furry worry. It all worked out then, and I hope it all works out now.

No. Thank YOU!

Kevin Downey Jr., Carole Montgomery
Jeff Shaw, Katsy Chappelle, Leighann Lord
Mark Riccadonna

I am currently on my seventh tour with Armed Forces Entertainment, my third performing for the troops in the Middle East. This time around I’m visiting bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Djibouti. I’ve lost count of how many people come up to me after a show in the states to say thank for “going over there.” They tell me about their sons, daughters, grand children, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, cousins, and friends. I’ve had the pleasure of talking to service men and women from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. (The Black Ops guys aren’t really chatty.)