Leaving the world a little better than I found it by sharing my passions and dreams, what inspires me,
and maybe you too, and furthering the discussion about how we can listen to our better angels.
As you know, Little Merry Sunshine was named one of Chicago's Best Blogs in 2009 by the Chicago Tribune and even appeared on the front page of the Chicago Tribune's website in April 2009. That publicity has created quite the buzz for LMS in the blog world (well, mostly in my imagination) and probably helped increase our international readership, not to mention the requests for me to review such products as baby food and diapers and give you my hearty endorsement in exchange for free baby food and diapers (yes, really).
All of that is terrific. But the crème de la crème came today when Little Merry Sunshine received it's very first celebrity endorsement! That's right, Gary, Indiana's Greatest Writer, Milo Samardzija, posted the following about Little Merry Sunshine on his Facebook wall yesterday:
Despite a complete lack of foul language, criminal attitude and despicable behavior, I am growing very fond of the Little Merry Sunshine blog site.
Ya, I know, it doesn't get any better than that. Yes, you can be jealous.
Haven't heard of Milo Samardzija? Well, then you must be living under a rock. As I said, Milo is Gary Indiana's Greatest Writer. He also writes for one of the wittiest blogs I've ever read called The Third City. Plus, he's written a fantastic book called Schoolboy. Simply put, Schoolboy is a must read.
The writers here at Little Merry Sunshine (that'd be me) are incredibly honored to receive this endorsement and hope it will result in boosting readership from 7 to 8. Thank you Milo!
It's been awhile since we last played my favorite game "Guess Who's Having A Birthday TODAY!"
Here are the rules . . . . you get one guess. That's the only rule.
Did you guess . . .
. . . Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood who joined the world in 1977? . . . The late rap star/actor Tupac Shakur (1971-1996), born in Brooklyn, NY? . . . Golfer Phil Mickelson, born in San Diego, CA in 1970? . . . Actress Laurie Metcalf of Rosanna fame, hailing from Carbonville, IL in 1955? . . . Knots Landing's Joan Van Ark in 1943? . . . Novelist Joyce Carol Oates, born in New York in 1938? . . . Love Story author Erich Segal from Brooklyn, NY in 1937? . . . Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, born in New York City in 1917? . . . Stan Laurel of Laurel & Hardy fame in 1890?
Those are good guesses and they were all born today, but they are all wrong.
The correct answer is ME! It's MY birthday today! Yeah!
This was my third birthday in our house in Ft. Myers, Florida. It's my favorite birthday picture ever. Check out that smile. Those hands on my hips foretell of my semi-bossy nature.
This was my first birthday picture. Even then, sleep was important to me.
I love this. I love that for one hour in two weeks, ABC will devote its airwaves to the power of optimism.
I believe that optimism is limitless in its power. It makes the impossible possible. It is often what separates the winners from the losers (although those words make me cringe). If you believe, like I do, that what you think about you bring about, then optimism is one of the key pieces of the foundation.
And Michael J. Fox, the poster child for the power of positive thinking is going on television to talk about it. As far as I can tell, the only bad thing about this program is that it's not a weekly series. Given all the negativity in the world, that's what we really need right now.
Michael J. Fox, the former star of ABC's comedy hit Spin City, makes an emotional return to the network as the acclaimed television and movie star investigates the nature of optimism. In 1998 Fox publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease and, two years later, made the difficult decision to walk away from a highly successful acting career with credits including the top-rated NBC comedy series Family Ties and the blockbuster Back to the Future movies. His triumphant spirit and positive attitude, considering his daily fight against the symptoms of a complex and incurable neurological syndrome, may make you wonder: How does he remain an "incurable optimist"?
Fox travels across the globe to explore the enduring strength of hope. He talks to both famous and everyday people, venturing everywhere from the Far East to President Barack Obama's inspiring inauguration -- all for a one-hour special, Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, airing THURSDAY, MAY 7 (10:02-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
The whole world, shaken by economic woes, is taking a closer look at optimism. Imagine a country which measures its success with a figure for "Gross National Happiness" instead of Gross National Product. Fox visits the secluded Himalayan nation of Bhutan, a modern day Shangri La that stresses the importance of joy in everything it does. Can happiness actually be legislated? Fox is fascinated by this nation's commitment to the positive well-being of its citizens.
"The same joyous spark that Michael J. Fox shared with us during his acting career shines through in this compelling look at the transformational power of optimism," said Victoria Dummer, co-head and senior vice president, Alternative Series, Specials and Late Night, ABC Entertainment Group.
During this entertaining and inspiring hour, Fox also meets doctors and scientists who share lively insight on the cutting edge science that's helping us better understand the nature of optimism in all of us. He introduces viewers to a variety of people who haven't let difficulties stand in the way of their happiness. Even Fox himself says the past 10 years, dealing with Parkinson's and setting up The Michael J. Fox Foundation, have become among his happiest and his best.
"For everything this disease has taken, something with greater value has been given," Fox says, "So, sure, it may be one step forward and two steps back, but after a time with Parkinson's, I've learned that what is important is making that one step count."
Fox is still an actor, but his personal and professional focus has now shifted to Parkinson's disease. He's revolutionized research in the field with The Michael J. Fox Foundation, the world's largest non-profit funder of Parkinson's research.
He is also a best-selling author. His first book, Lucky Man, was published in 2002. A new memoir of the last eight years, Always Looking Up, is out on March 31. Both books are from Hyperion.
Michael J. Fox, Nelle Fortenberry and Rudy Bednar are executive producers of Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, a collaboration between Northern Fox Productions and Lincoln Square Productions.
Click Here to read an exerpt from Michael J. Fox's new book, Always Looking Up, or click here for more information.
According to the statement released from Chris Brown's rep on TMZ.com,
"Chris very much appreciates the support of his fans and the honor they have paid him in the way of nominations for Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song.
Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the incident last month has shifted the focus from the music to whether he should be allowed to be among those nominated.
While Chris would like to speak to his fans directly about this and other issues, pending legal proceedings preclude his doing so at this time. Once the matter before him has been resolved, he intends to do so."
I don't like the statement because what I want him to say is "I appreciate the support of my fans and honor they have paid me in the way of nominations for Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song. Unfortunately, as a role model to my fans, I have failed them and cannot accept their nominations. It is never acceptable to hit a woman and I have no excuse. There is nothing she did or could ever do to deserve the beating I gave her. No one should ever resort to violence for any reason. There are simply no excuses and I hope that my fans will learn from my mistakes."
What's worse is the statement from Nickelodeon to TMZ: "We are confirming that Chris Brown has decided to withdraw his nominations from the Kids' Choice Awards. We agree with and respect his decision, and are looking forward to presenting a great event for our audience." (emphasis mine).
Okay, if Nickelodeon agreed with Chris Brown's decision, why didn't they take a stand and boot him off the list of nominations? Do any adults work at Nickelodeon?
I point out their ages because they are both role models to kids. Kids love them. Teenagers love their music. And of course, they are both still young adults themselves.
Don't we as adults owe it to this generation of teens and pre-teens to condemn domestic violence, let them know that violence is never okay, they deserve better, they must report it when it happens, and that they should not go back to the relationship?
Nickelodeon could use their Kids' Choice Awards as an opportunity to run anti-violence PSAs and educate kids about abuse. But it all starts with removing Chris Brown from contention for an award. It's too bad the powers that be at Nick are afraid to be adults.
Update 9:53pm: Campbell Brown of CNN has just weighed in on this issue and I'd like to think that she formed her opinion after reading Little Merry Sunshine, but I'm sure that's not true. But she does share my opinion. Watch for yourself.
Apologies to Carly Simon, but when I told four five of my guy friends (one even sent me his resume to prove his hotness!) I was writing a blog post about sexy men, they each said, "Oh, thanks for writing about me!" and the title of this post was born.
My new blog friend Fonzie Sox has a wonderfully exciting post about the celebrities she is crushing on and would like to get to know better, if you know what I mean. :)
That has inspired me to create my own Top 25 List of Celebs I'd Like to Know. And by "know" I mean do very x-rated things with. Hey, a girl's gotta have goals!
Hopefully this list will warm us all up on this cold winter Sunday.
With no further ado, here they are in no particular order.
John F. Kennedy, Jr., 1960-1999 Nana used to send me clippings about JFK, Jr. when he was single and I was living in DC. She seemed to want me to marry him. Probably a good thing I didn't.
President-Elect Barack Obama It may be inappropriate to lust after our President-elect, but I don't care. Just look at him. Off the charts smart. Smokin' hot body and face. Great with kids. And powerful. Yep, that's the complete package.
Michael Jordan I mean, seriously, take a look at those hands. You know what they say about a man with big hands!
He's so hot, he needs two pictures.
Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles My high school boyfriend looked a lot like Jake. Lucky me.
Ryne Sandberg I could certainly do worse than a Hall of Fame Second Baseman. I obviously have a thing for Chicago athletes who wear #23.
Vince Vaughn He's such a boy next door. Plus he's got the funny thing going on.
Brad Meltzer Okay, I'll admit, Brad almost didn't make the list. Not because he's not sexy. He is clearly sexy. But Brad's a friend of mine and that made it a little weird. But he's famous and sexy and that was the criteria. His sex appeal comes from his brilliance and being an all-around good guy. A guy who believes we all have a responsibility to give back is sexy.
Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman. Well, okay, anytime really. But seriously, Josh Lyman has it all.
Rob Lowe As Sam Seaborn in The West Wing, Rob was almost irresitible. But as Robert McCallister on Brothers and Sisters, ABC is must-see-tv on Sundays.
Anderson Cooper Okay, sure, I've heard the rumors that Anderson doesn't play for my team, but that's okay. I can still lust.
Jimmy Smits Sorry, Kelly, I had to crop you out of this picture at the 1997 Clinton Inaugural Ball.
The late great Paul Newman, 1925-2008
Robert Redford
George Stephanopolous Another hottie Nana used to send me clippings about and wanted me to marry. He actually had a condo in the same building as my friend Kelly in DC, but I never ran into him, as hard as I tried.
Daniel Radcliffe Oh my, has Harry Potter grown up!
Nate Berkus Nate was another one I was unsure about putting on the list because I was his RA in college and personally know him. I have had the great pleasure of seeing him in boxers. Again, it's a shame Nate doesn't play for my team, but that doesn't mean I can't lust.
Sarah Palin (the real one) is appearing on Saturday Night Live tonight. And I'm staying up to watch, because I'm hoping and praying it will be over the top hysterical.
10:36pm . . . The Opening Skit featuring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin giving a her first news conference, Sarah Palin (the real one), Mark Wahlberg, and Alec Baldwin just ended and I have to admit I was seriously disappointed. As soon as it's available, I'll post it and let you judge for yourself. Here's hoping Sarah appears later and it's funny.
10:47pm . . . Can someone please explain to me how Kristen Wiig is funny? She seems exactly the same to me in every character. All of her voices are the same. And I simply do not find her funny.
10:56pm . . . Mark Wahlberg is back! Maybe Sarah Palin will reappear too. Fingers crossed.
11:15pm . . . Weekend Update . . . . Always funny. Lots of opportunity here to make fun of Sarah. Oh. My. God. Dan Quayle gave Sarah advice? Really?
11:24pm . . . WAHOO! She's BACK in the middle of Weekend Update! This will be GREAT! Wait, an about-to-pop pregnant Amy Poehler is doing the Sarah part rapping and dancing, while Sarah just bobs her head in her seat? WTF???
11:42pm . . . I gotta say, SNL is a huge disappointment tonight and I simply don't understand. They've had some great skits this year, mostly thanks to the election. Tina Fey's impersonations of Sarah Palin are spot-on. Fred Armisen could be a better Barack Obama, but the debate skits have been so good, it hasn't mattered much. Weekend Update has had the best material its had in years. And then there's tonight. What happened? It almost makes me wonder if the McCain/Palin campaign folks made SNL promise not to make fun of Sarah tonight. If her job was to show she could laugh at herself, I'd say Sarah Palin failed. A completely wasted opportunity.
My advice is to erase your TiVo without watching SNL. I watched so you don't have to.
I know I made many of you cry and otherwise breakdown yesterday, but that message was important and sometimes we must be shocked into action. I'm sorry.
To make up for yesterday's horror and to continue the theme of Vote for Change, here's a more fun video from Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson.
Seriously, this was not too difficult to figure out. I knew "The Summer of 69" was about sex when I was a teenager. This really isn't rocket science. But let's all take a moment to appreciate how well Bryan Adams has aged. He's still so dreamy.
And for good measure, here's the video of this great song:
Yesterday, I wrote a post titled "Breaking News: Paris Hilton Running for President" in which I stated that I didn't believe the video in the post was actually Paris Hilton because I don't believe she knows that many words and maybe it was the seriousness in her voice and facial expressions, but I didn't believe the woman in the video looked exactly like her.
I was wrong. I can admit when I've made a mistake. It keeps me humble.
Please don't misunderstand me, I'm still in shock that it was really Paris Hilton and that she used so many big words. Mostly, however, I'm in shock that she did the whole video in 4 takes AND from memory.
Typically, I don't talk about these things, because, well, it's rather intimidating for my friends to know I have such greatness in my genes. And no one likes to feel inferior to their friends.
Okay, so none of that's true. But my dad is a pretty cool super swell guy. His name actually really is John W. Gardner. However, his only real claim to fame, that I know of anyway, is that he went to high school with Ann Margaret.
Anyway, he just bought his first laptop. I know this because he called today and asked me to teach him how to use it next week when we're at Watervale. While it will be nice to be able to communicate with my dad via the internet (this is also his first computer), I can't say I'm happy that he wants to bring computers on vacation!
He'll be reading my blog starting next week, so I guess I have to start behaving myself and watching what I say.
Oh, screw it. If he doesn't know I'm an ACLU card-carrying member of the Liberal Elite by now, well, it's about time he found out.
So everyone say a big warm welcome to my dad!
John W. Gardner (my dad) and his younger brother Jeff
In case you've lived in a cave, as I apparently have, and have never seen nor heard George Carlin's famous Seven Dirty Words Routine, I've just ripped this off Boxer Rebellion's blog for your viewing pleasure.
But PLEASE DO NOT PLAY THIS AT WORK or around small children. Truly, it's not suitable for them.
By now, you've heard the sad news about Tim Russert who died yesterday, doing what he loved - prepping for Sunday's Meet The Press.
I never knew Tim Russert personally, although we have spent almost every Sunday morning together for the last 17 years. For a political and news junkie like me, Meet the Press is required viewing. When I lived in DC, I survived working Sundays at Hogan because starting at noon, the local NPR station replayed all the Sunday morning political shows (Meet the Press, This Week with David Brinkley, Face the Nation, and the rest). Tim Russert was the best of the best as far as political journalists go. His research on each guest was impeccable. Although he asked tough questions, he never entered the arena of "gotcha" questions. And he listened to the answers. Whatever his own personal political beliefs, you didn't know it when watching MTP.
And certainly, Election Nights were nothing without Tim. In fact, Tim Russert is credited with coining the phrases "Red State" and "Blue State." His goal was to explain complicated electoral politics to the Average Joe. We all remember his famous white board from the 2000 Election Night.
Of course, Tim is also known for what he's done for Father's Day. His love for his dad and his son were evident everyday of his life. And his book "Big Russ and Me" probably brought many fathers and sons closer.
I will miss Tim Russert deeply. No one holds a candle to him. And the 2008 Presidential Election will be poorer for his untimely death.
I have no idea how his shoes will be filled, although at least for tomorrow, Tom Brokaw will attempt to fill the void on Meet the Press.
Has anyone but me been feeling the eerie similarities between the selection of the 2008 Democratic Candidate for President and The West Wing election in 2005/06?
Evidently, it's no coincidence. And I love it.
This video is rich with many of my three favorite things:
Dave and I wanted to see a movie on Saturday night, and as usual, we had difficulty choosing. It's not because there are so many movies we're eager to see, but rather a "guy taste" vs. a "girl taste" thing. I wanted something that was feel-good or funny and he wanted an intellectual thriller.
He suggested Vantage Point, but immediately said I would hate it. Not knowing anything about it, I quickly Googled it and learned that it was a political drama/action movie. Toss politics into a movie and I can get behind it quickly.
Unfortunately, this movie can be summed up in less than one sentence: 1 scene repeated 5 times and a car chase. It felt very Groundhog Day-ish, without the life lessons and without the enjoyment.
This was one of those movies I figured out within the first 5 minutes and did not spend the next 85 minutes enjoying the journey of how I reached my conclusion. It was unfortunate because there were some true possibilities for intriguing subplots. None of them was explored, however.
The best part of the movie came about 2 minutes into it (the first time) when the President of the US (played by William Hurt) is entering the Spanish plaza and the streets are lined with protesters. Anti-American signs were everywhere and I turned to Dave and said "did you just see the anti-W sign that just flashed?" and he saw it too.
My recommendation is to skip this movie, although DennisQuaid and Matthew Fox were some yummy eye candy.
Rick Springfield will be on Oprah this Tuesday - February 26th! In Chicago, you will find Oprah on at 9:00am and 11:05pm on Channel 7. Set your Tivo, DVRs and VCRs.
You'll recall that I am HUGE Rick Springfield fan and have lusted after him since I was 13. The truth is, however, that my lust for Rick is nothing in comparison to Cheryl's lust for Rick. Cheryl has seen him at Poplar Creek (we think we were at the same concert, but didn't know each other then), at the Ohio State Fair and in Milwaukee, Joilet, and St. Charles, Illinois. She has every album, is a card-carrying member of the Rick Springfield Fan Club, and even has several pieces Rick Springfield memorabilia including a mirror with his likeness that she stood outside for over an hour in the freezing cold last November to have him autograph after the St. Charles concert (note: she was the only fan who waited for him). The pictures to the right are of her with Rick in St. Charles.
What does this have to do with the Queen of All Media - Oprah? Cheryl was in the audience! With her Rick Springfield mirror!
To put this into perspective, this show was taped on February 6th - the day after Super Tuesday, when Chicago had a huge blizzard. Cheryl was at Harpo Studios at 7:00am for a taping of Rick on Oprah. Schools were closed. Roads were impassible. The devoted fan that she is, Cheryl spent the night at her cousin's house in the city and they arrived at Harpo before 7:00am on the worst day this winter. I wasn't there and I'm completely jealous. I could have been there, but I had a previous commitment. Instead, thanks to the snow, I was at home, repeatedly shoveling my driveway.
Of her experience on Oprah with Rick, Cheryl says "[My cousin Joan & I] were in the center section, dead center, with a couple of empty seats in front of us. I was the only one in my section with Rick Springfield memorabilia. Rick arrived to the screams of the all-female audience, sat down next to Oprah, looked up at me holding my mirror and other memorabilia and gave me the thumbs-up and huge grin. I'm sure he remembered our encounter in St. Charles and all the audience members around me squealed that he was looking at ME!"
It's sure to be a fantastic show, although Cheryl and I can't figure out the connection between Rick, William Shatner, and Henry Winkler. Look for Cheryl in the audience.
