Thunderbolt

I give you the latest and greatest featuring Lego Jake.  What do you think?

Here I am in the 90s, when I worked for Tony Gardner and never wore a belt. I was also a bit , ahem, skinnier back then. ANYWAY, I post this pic and ask if you've considered donating to Great Strides this year. You haven't? Well, don't be a turkey. Help change the lives of thousands of children, teens and adults living with cystic fibrosis, like this guy... Jacob thanks you. Here's the link: Jacob's Donation Page Aloha

One of the finest shows on TV these past six years has been FX's Justified . Based on an Elmore Leonard novella entitled Fire in the Hole , the series followed the exploits of a Deputy U.S. Marshal named Raylan Givens, as played by the exceptional Timothy Olyphant. Raylan's primary nemesis was Boyd Crowder, an outlaw from the Kentucky hills who once worked in the coal mines with Raylan. Boyd was played to perfection by Walton Goggins. While Raylan and Boyd were strutting their stuff week in and week out, the producers of Justified , led by show creator/showrunner Graham Yost, also created a stellar group of women characters who often stole the spotlight from the two peacocks of the series. In particular Joelle Carter as Ava, Natalie Zea as Winona, Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks, plus guest stars like Mary Steenburgen as Katherine Hale, Kaitlyn Dever as Loretta McReady (she's an up and comer we should all keep our eyes out for) and Emmy winner Margo Martindale as Mags Bennett....

I know. I've been terrible at sending "thank you" responses to all of you awesome people who have donated to Great Strides in the past couple of years. Please... please, please, please... don't let that affect whether you'll make a donation to Great Strides this year. Want to be pissed at me, that's cool. I deserve it. I've been a jackass and let a general malaise hover over me like a storm cloud that refuses to rain. But this isn't about me. It's about Jacob and the thousands of other children and adults living with cystic fibrosis. What can I do to make it up to you? Want a short story? I'll write you one. A short film? May take a little time, but consider it done. A copy of King's Highway ? Send me your address and it's in the mail. A copy of Basement Songs ? Okay. I love my son more than any words on a blog can get across. I do not have thousands of dollars to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to continue their groundbreaking...

Jacob has pneumonia again. He has a cough that causes him to double over, shaking his entire body. He's had trouble sleeping through the night thanks to the cough. Well, thanks to CF. A simple cold can quickly turn into something else with CF kids, as it did in this case. But Jake is a champ. Although he's in a lot of pain, he still manages to  crack jokes and make us laugh. I bring this up as a segue into the following announcement: The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Great Strides walk for Valencia, CA (which is where I live) will be on May 9, 2015. This post is the beginning of my fundraising for Great Strides. Here are some facts that you probably know, but I'm going to repeat them: Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening illness that effects the lungs and digestive systems of people born with it. In people with CF, the body produces a thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and obstructs the pancreas. Because of the mucus in the lungs, bacteria likes to grow and wrea...

The 2015 Valencia Great Strides is a little over a month away. Among the things I want to do this year (including personally thanking everyone who donates-- sorry!) is repost some of my CF related posts and columns from the past years. This year is kind of exciting because Jacob and I are working on a special fundraising video that we hope to have completed this weekend. Fingers crossed, Anyway, here is a 2011 BS entry for Coldplay's "Fix You." Every time I hear this song, it's hits me with an emotional wallop, especially the live version. This entry ran in April of that year, so there are references to the Indians already playing winning baseball (they would finish 80-82 that year, bleh). Thanks for reading. Aloha Here are two phrases I never thought I’d say in this year: “The Indians swept the Red Sox” and “Cleveland is in first place.” Hope  springs eternal each spring when Major League Baseball begins its season. We fans are optimistic even when our team is mid-ma...

This was originally published in 2007, when my daughter was 8. Time is a runaway freight train. I worry about Sophie. My concerns run deep ranging from how does her brother's disease affect her to is she receiving enough attention? The greatest fear I have for my daughter is that she somehow feels a lack of love on my part. I can tell her "I love you" until I'm blue in the face, but unless my actions show it, these are just words. Because of these fears, I try to set aside time and activities for just the two of us. I'm excited because today she is coming to spend the whole day at work with me, part of a "bring your child to work" activity the studio is having. Something else we love to do is watching baseball games. We have as been to several Dodgers games in the past couple of years. Sophie really tries to follow the game, asking questions about the players and how baseball is played. It's not all about hot dogs and cotton candy. Sophie is a rema...