No More Stains

For nine years I’ve had some pretty wicked stains on my passenger side floor mat in my little Corolla, Nicky. And for nine years I’ve been telling myself, “Man, I really need to get my car detailed. Those stains look crappy.” It’s been on my “To Do” list since 2000, but for some reason it’s always seemed like a big deal. Like stains on a white shirt, I just silently assumed that they were too deep, too ingrained to come out easily, so why even bother? Why go through the hassle and expense of a car detail if there was no hope? Then yesterday morning I got a wild hair and asked the attendant at the car wash to shampoo the mat. It came right out and it only cost me two bucks. Two bucks! And I waited nine years for this??? All that to say, there are certain problems in our lives that we’ve built up to be bigger than they really are. We think, “No. My stain, my shame, my problem – it’s too big to fix.” But sometimes all it takes is a decision and you find that it really wasn’t such a big deal after all. You needed only ask for it to be wiped clean.

Last night PAL had a barbecue at the Hollywood Fire Station for some donors with some LAPD and LAFD higher-ups, as well as some political folk. Why didn’t anyone tell me ribs were so tasty? I’ve probably had them once or twice in my life because I think I assumed they were mainly beef, which I don’t eat. But pork? Bring it on. Dang if those things aren’t good! Maybe these ribs just tasted better because I was surrounded by firemen. I'm only sorry I couldn't stick around for the ride in the fire engine, but I did it a couple of years ago, so it's okay.

After the barbecue, I went to see my friend Antonio’s new show that he’s about to perform at the Phoenix Fringe Festival. Antonio is a terrific storyteller, solo performer, and all-around good guy. He told one story about a world conference he attended as a panelist and how comments he and the other panelists made were taken out of context by Bill O’Reilly and he was slammed for eight episodes straight, until a teenager who was in the audience went on the show and put Bill in his place by taking something out of O’Reilly’s book and speaking it out of context to make a point. I was pretty peeved at Bill when I heard about the story last year, especially since it has affected a very dear man’s career and livelihood. People, people – get the facts straight before you speak about things you have only heard about through the grapevine. Yikes!

On another note, I was profoundly saddened by the death of Natasha Richardson. Not because of the loss of a great actress, but because of the loss of a mother, the loss of a wife, the loss of a daughter. I can’t imagine the grief her family must be experiencing.

So today, on thankful Thursday, I am grateful for my loved ones and for my health. I am truly rich and blessed beyond all reason.