A friend of mine from college, who now works at the University of Michigan, recently posted on my facebook wall the following:
Excited to judge tryouts for the Women's Club Cheer Team - started 15 years ago by an awesome person named Katrina!! — with Katrina Blank at Central Campus Recreation Building.
And I commented:
looooooove this! funny, back in 1997 the person i spoke w/at the UM's athletic department said i couldn't start this group, so i called up the lions, hoping to get a pro team started... they said no too. but then i learned, if you get 5 signatures, you can start ANY group on on Michigan's campus - cheers to overcoming obstacles in making your dreams come true! :) often times our noes in life are our answers en route to finding our yeses. tears, prayers, and a good friend named Emily Cheng Nelson also helped bring about this group. thrilled to know it still exists!
Erwin McManus claims we're all made of the same stuff. But I'm starting to question this claim. Because reflecting back on my college experience, no one "taught" me to take initiative, but rather, I just did. And I don't think it's "normal" to go after something like I did, and to continue to go after my "dream" despite such opposition. Most people would have given up if not at the first no, then at the second. But for some reason, I refused to take no for an answer.
Granted, the "cause" I fought for in college was seemingly trite, but I loved cheerleading enough to not let it go to the wayside, simply because I was 5'8" and much too tall for the coed team.
And so 15 years ago I created what today is this:
http://www.umich.edu/~mcheer/UMich_All-Girl_Cheer/Home.html
But I mention intiative, because although it may not be as natural for eveyone else like it is for me, it's still within each and every one of us. I suppose that's where Erwin is correct in his claim. The potential to take initiative is there, but some people are more apt than others to step forward and pursue possibility.
So what is it that holds us back from making our ideas a reality?
Monday, October 8, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Value
He pulled his car over to the side of 8th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets, near Penn Station. This is where we would part ways for the night, but I hadn't yet finished answering his question, so I stayed inside his car a little longer to explain. He wanted to know what I was looking for in a guy.
"I want to be with someone who values me - someone who is thrilled to be with me and doesn't take me for granted."
"That's it?" He questioned.
My answer seems to change every 3 to 5 years, but this is where my answer currently stands. And this answer has nothing to do with the guy himself, but rather it's about how he views and treats me. If a guy cherishes me, I'm hooked.
"Oh, and I want to be with a guy who follows through with his word."
"You mean, a guy who has integrity?"
"Yeah, a guy who has integrity."
Integrity isn't actually what I meant, but it was close enough. I literally meant follow through, and for the times when he doesn't hold to his word, an apology is all I need to know he still values me.
I considered this Friday night car conversation more deeply on my Saturday run, and finally everything about the pursue rules made sense to me. I've always, only heard them explained in context of what a guy needs - they need to pursue a girl, and if you're too readily available, they're wired to lose interest. He has this "stupid" need to pursue. So I have to be passive, sit pretty, and hope some guy, who isn't creepy, will have the balls to ask me out.
But I finally get it. And I get why I need him to pursue me. Because first and foremost in a relationship, I want to be valued. And if a guy isn't willing to pursue me, ultimately it is unlikely I will ever feel valued and treasured in relationship with him.
I'd like to say, done. Time to let the guys pursue. But the problem I've encountered over the years is most guys don't feel like they're good enough for me OR they don't feel like they'd stand a chance with me. And so they drop the idea before the possibility is even explored. And so we're all left on each others radars, with minimal interaction, missing what we don't know.
"I want to be with someone who values me - someone who is thrilled to be with me and doesn't take me for granted."
"That's it?" He questioned.
My answer seems to change every 3 to 5 years, but this is where my answer currently stands. And this answer has nothing to do with the guy himself, but rather it's about how he views and treats me. If a guy cherishes me, I'm hooked.
"Oh, and I want to be with a guy who follows through with his word."
"You mean, a guy who has integrity?"
"Yeah, a guy who has integrity."
Integrity isn't actually what I meant, but it was close enough. I literally meant follow through, and for the times when he doesn't hold to his word, an apology is all I need to know he still values me.
I considered this Friday night car conversation more deeply on my Saturday run, and finally everything about the pursue rules made sense to me. I've always, only heard them explained in context of what a guy needs - they need to pursue a girl, and if you're too readily available, they're wired to lose interest. He has this "stupid" need to pursue. So I have to be passive, sit pretty, and hope some guy, who isn't creepy, will have the balls to ask me out.
But I finally get it. And I get why I need him to pursue me. Because first and foremost in a relationship, I want to be valued. And if a guy isn't willing to pursue me, ultimately it is unlikely I will ever feel valued and treasured in relationship with him.
I'd like to say, done. Time to let the guys pursue. But the problem I've encountered over the years is most guys don't feel like they're good enough for me OR they don't feel like they'd stand a chance with me. And so they drop the idea before the possibility is even explored. And so we're all left on each others radars, with minimal interaction, missing what we don't know.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Electrified
I didn't realize what my friend Bethanie and I had gotten ourselves into until I returned home this evening and googled our experience.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ultrabook/experience/electrified/program.html
Bethanie and I were less than impressed with the display because we didn't realize it was a real person in the middle of the electricity display. We simply thought it was some robot.
Ha! So instead of taking pics and being intrigued by David Blaine's "show," our interest was diverted to the fireworks show that started up over the Hudson.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ultrabook/experience/electrified/program.html
Bethanie and I were less than impressed with the display because we didn't realize it was a real person in the middle of the electricity display. We simply thought it was some robot.
Ha! So instead of taking pics and being intrigued by David Blaine's "show," our interest was diverted to the fireworks show that started up over the Hudson.
Friday, October 5, 2012
The Vagabond
For the past 36 days and 36 nights, I've bounced from one location to the next... living out of my car and laying my head down at night at over 18 locations in 8 different cities... never staying in the same home for more than 2 nights in a row...
According to Wikipedia and Dictionary.com, my existence has become that of a Vagabond.
Today I moved into what will be some sort of semblance of home for the next 16 nights. A 2 and 1/2 week stay any where is a far cry from home, but at least it's a consistent place for me to sleep and write for a decent time frame, and for that, I'm especially grateful..
On my afternoon run through Central Park, the song Home by Mumford and Sons, came on over my little AM/FM radio.
As I listened to the lyrics, "Settle down, it'll all be clear" I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps that is what God is asking me to do here in NYC. I've told many I'm thinking of moving back to LA in after the New Year, but now, I'm not so certain...
Lyrics to Home :
According to Wikipedia and Dictionary.com, my existence has become that of a Vagabond.
Today I moved into what will be some sort of semblance of home for the next 16 nights. A 2 and 1/2 week stay any where is a far cry from home, but at least it's a consistent place for me to sleep and write for a decent time frame, and for that, I'm especially grateful..
On my afternoon run through Central Park, the song Home by Mumford and Sons, came on over my little AM/FM radio.
As I listened to the lyrics, "Settle down, it'll all be clear" I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps that is what God is asking me to do here in NYC. I've told many I'm thinking of moving back to LA in after the New Year, but now, I'm not so certain...
Lyrics to Home :
Hold on, to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home
Settle down, it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home
Perhaps my time in NYC is intended to be more than a 2 year stint. Perhaps it's time to make this place my home.
Acoording to Wikipedia
A vagrant or a vagabond is a person, often in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income. Other synonyms include "tramp", "hobo", "schnorrer".
According to Dictionary.com
noun
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home
Settle down, it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home
Perhaps my time in NYC is intended to be more than a 2 year stint. Perhaps it's time to make this place my home.
Acoording to Wikipedia
A vagrant or a vagabond is a person, often in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income. Other synonyms include "tramp", "hobo", "schnorrer".
According to Dictionary.com
vag·a·bond
adjective
1. wandering from place to place without any settled home; nomadic: a vagabond tribe.
2. leading an unsettled or carefree life.
3. disreputable; worthless; shiftless.
4. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a vagabond: vagabond habits.
5. having an uncertain or irregular course or direction: a vagabond voyage.
noun
6. a person, usually without a permanent home, who wanders from place to place; nomad.
7. an idle wanderer without a permanent home or visible means of support; tramp; vagrant.
8. a carefree, worthless, or irresponsible person; rogue.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Celebrity Dating
I've never dated a celebrity, but I did somewhat date a guy, who prior to me was seeing a girl who had dated George Clooney. I find it fascinating that I'm two degrees away from having kissed a celebrity. Not that I would want to kiss George - he's too old for my liking, but there is something intriguing about celebrity circles, and I'm dumbfounded that I could be so near to something that use to seem so far away.
Today I hung out with a friend of mine who has been on several dates with a celebrity I use to watch on television as a little girl. The show: Who's the Boss. Yep, my friend has been out with Tony Danza on more than one occasion. She says he's a great guy, but like George (age 51), Tony (age 61) is probably a bit too old for anything substantive to form between the two of them.
I thought of my friend and Tony when I was recently out in Hollywood. I made my friend Sarah pause to take a picture when I noticed Tony's star beneath our feet.
After hanging out with my friend Kari, and meeting her new, attractive guy roommate, I picked up my friend Sally Ann from the Times Square area. Sally Ann is a model, an opera singer, and always a good time. She and I drove up to the 180s, where we stopped in at a friend's birthday party, before heading back to her place to crash for the night. Sally Ann and I met on a ski/snowboarding trip to Vermont a couple of winters ago, and we bonded further over a Halloween Party in Soho last fall. You'll be able to read all about that night, along with my dating life for my first two years in NYC in my second book titled My Second Hottest Guy Friend.
Today I hung out with a friend of mine who has been on several dates with a celebrity I use to watch on television as a little girl. The show: Who's the Boss. Yep, my friend has been out with Tony Danza on more than one occasion. She says he's a great guy, but like George (age 51), Tony (age 61) is probably a bit too old for anything substantive to form between the two of them.
 |
| Charity:Water Ball Dec 2011 * Katrina Blank and Kari |
After hanging out with my friend Kari, and meeting her new, attractive guy roommate, I picked up my friend Sally Ann from the Times Square area. Sally Ann is a model, an opera singer, and always a good time. She and I drove up to the 180s, where we stopped in at a friend's birthday party, before heading back to her place to crash for the night. Sally Ann and I met on a ski/snowboarding trip to Vermont a couple of winters ago, and we bonded further over a Halloween Party in Soho last fall. You'll be able to read all about that night, along with my dating life for my first two years in NYC in my second book titled My Second Hottest Guy Friend.
Monday, October 1, 2012
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