Sunday, April 30, 2006
Come to Missouri - We'll Save your Butt!
This past week, a Missouri motorist suffered a massive heart attack while driving. Luckily, the first people to arrive on the scene were two nurses and (get this!) a difibulator salesman. He pulled out the very product he sells, put the paddles to the victim's chest, shocked her and it saved her life. So, rest assurred that we keep these people on hand for emergencies just like this! Okay, okay, that's not actually true, but it's still a great story, don't ya think?
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
COMING SOON!
This Thursday, April 27th, I will be speaking at MERAMEC COMMUNITY COLLEGE in STL! If you're in the area it would be great to have you come by! Drop me an e-mail for more info!
Monday, April 24, 2006
BOOKS!!!
The shipment of the 2nd edition of my autobiography has arrived!
As of 1 p.m. on April 24,
"After This...An Inspirational Journey For All the Wrong Reasons"
is officially in print!
Soon, very soon, the P.R. campaign will kick off and the book will be available nationwide! It's been a long, long road, but folks, this is finally it! Thanks to everyone who has helped along the way, and soon,
Soon, very soon, the P.R. campaign will kick off and the book will be available nationwide! It's been a long, long road, but folks, this is finally it! Thanks to everyone who has helped along the way, and soon,
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Founder’s
Just returned from a great weekend spent at my alma mater, Missouri State University. Reason for the trip? Celebration – pure and simple. Congratulations to the Mu Rho chapter of Kappa Sigma on your (okay, “our”) 22nd anniversary at MSU.
Always a great time with you guys and I can’t tell you how proud I am of what the chapter has become. AEKDB. Thanks for the hospitality, the burgers, the Friday night festivities at Ebbett’s Field and for thousands of stories! Until next year…
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Anniversary
Seven years ago today, I was speaking at a private high school here in St. Louis, Mary Institute-Country Day. As I was leaving the school, someone told me about the incident at Columbine - and the world of education changed forever.
I soon got used to having to wear a badge around the school, to being looked at suspiciously because, well, you just never know what might happen. The most horrible tragedy in recent memory dealing with schools… and today? Today in Kansas, law enforcement officials thwarted a plan to do a copycat crime. Sometimes it’s just so difficult for me to imagine that teenage life is so horrible that students would want to shoot up a school, not to mention themselves.
All I can say is that I’m glad our schools are more security minded, and I’m glad that parents try to take notice of behaviors and the computer traffic their kids have. You never know - it may just save someone’s life.
I soon got used to having to wear a badge around the school, to being looked at suspiciously because, well, you just never know what might happen. The most horrible tragedy in recent memory dealing with schools… and today? Today in Kansas, law enforcement officials thwarted a plan to do a copycat crime. Sometimes it’s just so difficult for me to imagine that teenage life is so horrible that students would want to shoot up a school, not to mention themselves.
All I can say is that I’m glad our schools are more security minded, and I’m glad that parents try to take notice of behaviors and the computer traffic their kids have. You never know - it may just save someone’s life.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Done... Almost!
Yesterday, the first shipment of my new autobiography rolled off the presses. While they’ll be in my greedy little hands within a day or two, look for a release date with all the hoopla sometime in June. A special web site just for the book, message boards for readers to leave feedback, and an accessible manuscript for anyone with visual impairments. One thing that has really, really annoyed me over the last few years is the inability to read my own book. Now? It’s open for all blind folks! Thanks to all who’ve been part of this journey… more to come soon!
Monday, April 10, 2006
Legacy
Today is opening day for my beloved St. Louis Cardinals. Every year, opening day is a thrill; the return to baseball, the re-birth of warm summer months and the unmistakable joy of going to a major league ball game.
However, those of us in St. Louis have something extra to celebrate this opening day: a new stadium. The old Busch Stadium has served our fair city well over the last 40 odd years, but now it’s time for a change. I think we all welcome this progress and are looking forward to viewing Cardinals baseball in a whole new way.
Yet, what is a baseball team, or a stadium, or a city without the people who support these ventures? Our local NPR affiliate interviewed a gentleman this morning that might be one of the best pieces of radio I’ve heard recently.
Prior to Busch Stadium, there was Sportsman’s Park. At Sportsman’s, Busch and the new Busch, you would and will find a man named Ed Kraft. Ed is 80 years old and started his career by selling 12 oz. bottles of beer in the old Sportsman’s Park. Now, at an age where most people are content to sit and watch the world go by, Ed is starting yet another baseball season, now selling programs and yearbooks to info-seeking fans-the first and only individual to ever work in all three venues.
As the season gets underway, I raise my $8 glass to Mr. Kraft and cheer on the Cards to another great season!
However, those of us in St. Louis have something extra to celebrate this opening day: a new stadium. The old Busch Stadium has served our fair city well over the last 40 odd years, but now it’s time for a change. I think we all welcome this progress and are looking forward to viewing Cardinals baseball in a whole new way.
Yet, what is a baseball team, or a stadium, or a city without the people who support these ventures? Our local NPR affiliate interviewed a gentleman this morning that might be one of the best pieces of radio I’ve heard recently.
Prior to Busch Stadium, there was Sportsman’s Park. At Sportsman’s, Busch and the new Busch, you would and will find a man named Ed Kraft. Ed is 80 years old and started his career by selling 12 oz. bottles of beer in the old Sportsman’s Park. Now, at an age where most people are content to sit and watch the world go by, Ed is starting yet another baseball season, now selling programs and yearbooks to info-seeking fans-the first and only individual to ever work in all three venues.
As the season gets underway, I raise my $8 glass to Mr. Kraft and cheer on the Cards to another great season!
Friday, April 07, 2006
University of Central Florida
UCF ARENA
April 06, 2006
Special thanks to Chad Humphrey, Belinda Boston,
the Kappa Sigma chapter and all the Greeks
that helped make my UCF experience so great!
You guys rock!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
University of Dayton
March 29, 2006Special thanks to:
Andy Blankemeyer for continually helping me to get my e-mail
and Selena Hilemon for an impromptu tour of Dayton (ha ha!).
Also thanks to everyone associated with the
Center for Social Concern
for the opportunity to work with the U of Dayton Students!
Monday, April 03, 2006
A Lesson
Friday morning, major news stations told the story of an eight-year-old Florida boy and his call to 911. As he watched, the boy’s father shot and killed his mother, then the boy’s grandmother, then decided that he, too, would like to see what buckshot tastes like.
While this is a horrible story, it isn’t all that uncommon. Sadly enough, we’re no longer shocked by very much. After 3000 Americans died on September 11th, 2001, we may never again find the innocence to find ANYTHING shocking. But, I digress…
As the Today show played the tape from the 911 call, I was most struck not by the horror of the act, but by the sheer honesty of the 911 operator. This little boy was obviously highly traumatized, but still had enough wits about him to make the call.
The panic in his voice was only overshadowed by his question to the operator: “What’s going to happen to us?”
The operator, a mother herself, bypassed all the comfort and compassion for a truthful answer: “Honey, I don’t know.”
How come it is when there’s a problem, we feel it’s our job to minimize the problem and comfort the hurt? This is usually thought to be accomplished by comforting words like, “It’ll be all right” and “Everything will work out.” Yet, what if everything won’t be all right? What if there is something so horrible that we’ll not be able to recover to the level prior to the trauma? Is everything going to be all right for this little boy? Nope! His parents are both dead. Nothing, NOTHING is going to change that fact.
Again, the operator’s compassion, and gut-honesty, is a lesson for us all.
While this is a horrible story, it isn’t all that uncommon. Sadly enough, we’re no longer shocked by very much. After 3000 Americans died on September 11th, 2001, we may never again find the innocence to find ANYTHING shocking. But, I digress…
As the Today show played the tape from the 911 call, I was most struck not by the horror of the act, but by the sheer honesty of the 911 operator. This little boy was obviously highly traumatized, but still had enough wits about him to make the call.
The panic in his voice was only overshadowed by his question to the operator: “What’s going to happen to us?”
The operator, a mother herself, bypassed all the comfort and compassion for a truthful answer: “Honey, I don’t know.”
How come it is when there’s a problem, we feel it’s our job to minimize the problem and comfort the hurt? This is usually thought to be accomplished by comforting words like, “It’ll be all right” and “Everything will work out.” Yet, what if everything won’t be all right? What if there is something so horrible that we’ll not be able to recover to the level prior to the trauma? Is everything going to be all right for this little boy? Nope! His parents are both dead. Nothing, NOTHING is going to change that fact.
Again, the operator’s compassion, and gut-honesty, is a lesson for us all.
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