Nurse Chapel is not on board the Enterprise

"Los Angeles, January 5: Friends, Family and some ‘Star Trek’ cast members gathered at the Forest Lawn Hollywood to bid a final farewell to actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry. The nurse Christine Chapel of the Star Trek television series died of leukemia at her home in Bel Air on Dec. 18. She was 76."

I must take a moment to say a fond Farewell to one of the most influential people in the world of Science Fiction. The wife of the Late Gene Roddenberry as gone to join the list of celebrities to have passed away this year. She was a very influential part of the creation of the Sci-Fi worlds of her husband, as well as the driving force to keep the franchise running after his passing. She was Nurse Chapel in the original "Star Trek" series, Lwaxana Trio, Mother of Deanna Troi in the "Next Generation" series, and, most memorably and least known, the Voice of the "Computer" in all of the variations of the series. Her Legacy in the Sci-Fi world will be forever burned into our memories. May she join her husband, Gene, in Sub-Space Forever!

Happy Christmas

Christmas time is over, the tree is put away, the new clothing has been washed and put into service and the remnants of Christmas meals and cookies are being eaten as fast as possible before they spoil. Old friends have been visited and/or called with the news of their children still fresh in our minds. It's a time for reflection and hope that the New Year will bring Happy Times for all our loved ones.

It was an exhausting ordeal with shopping and cooking and wrapping and trimming and decorating, but now that it's all over, and we go back to the grind of our daily lives... don't you kind of, sort of wish it wasn't over. Life goes on, though, so it's another year older, another year wiser, another year to wish and hope and dream. Happy New Year !

It's Beginning to look A LOT like Christmas...

Today is the 18th of December in Las Vegas and, for some strange reason, there's white, cold "flake" like things falling from the sky. Someone told me it's called "Snow". Well, out here in the desert, among the cactus and yucca trees, this seems odd, and somewhat pretty. Now it's wet, in the mid 30's and there's almost 10 inches of it. Who's gonna clean this up... it's a mess ?

This Is Brilliant !

One of my friends, a Dance Instructor, Daughter of a High School English Teacher, sent me this. It's Brilliant ! The speaker VERY eloquently explains some of the major problems with our education system, and by example, describes most of my closest friends. This is why creative people are so Odd.

Keeping in mind that I only sent this to my "Creative" friends, I hope you will appreciate the compliment of being called "Odd" once you've watched it. It's a 20 minute speaker at a conference called "TED2006" (Technology, Entertainment, Design), an invitation-only event where the world's leading thinkers and doers gather to find inspiration. (I've never heard of it either.) The speaker is very entertaining and well spoken, worthy of 20 minutes of your time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY&eurl=http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&authorID=90430004&messageID=6233693960&MyTokeniurl=http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/iG9CE55wbtY/hqdefault.jpg&feature=player_embedded

I'M THIS MANY...

I am This Many ! Two full years of sobriety. Something I've been waiting for since I was, oh, One Year Sober ! As many of us would imagine, I was proud of myself. I had accomplished a larger goal than my first one... to become sober. Sobriety does not come easy, or cheap. It takes time, it costs you friendships, it requires a lifestyle change that, for most good drinkers/drug users, is monumental and miraculous. To have removed from yourself a burden and a disease that WILL, without a shadow of a doubt, kill you. It takes the combined support of family, friends, support groups and God to ensure success. Those fortunate enough to have any combination of these have a fighting chance to survive.


Herein lies the rub. The Human Body can only withstand so much abuse from the drugs and alcohol that, even abstinence cannot stave off the damage that's already been done. The physical ravages of these abuses have an uncanny ability to pop up when they are least appreciated, and most vulnerable... like when celebrating your second year of sobriety. On October 31, the day before my anniversary, I had a Doctor's appointment with my favorite Dr. Ryan. It was a standard 3 month check up, with blood workup.


As the Doctor went through a bunch of numbers & figures, saying things like "Well, your bla bla is good, your bla bla level is normal, your bla bla is a little low, but we want that..." then she turned the page. I could see it in her face... She had bad news. "Well, it looks like your Diabetic for real now. Last time your glucose was 108, which is border line, now it's 138. You're going to have to start taking medication and test your blood sugar." It was about this point where my brain went into "Overload Mode" and it all sounded like noises coming from her mouth, but they weren't words... it was just "nperagz poafrg pono dsgfcw lijnsdf". Then she stopped talking for a second or two (or five minutes, who knows) and then she said "Are You O.K. You have that glazed look." I said "Give me a second... that's a lot to take in" She came over and Hugged me, then sat back down. "We have to send you to the dietitian, and get you trained on how to use the meter to test your blood. I'll let her tell you all about it, O.K ?" I said that would be better. I need to catch my breath. Then she turned the page again, and that look again. "Your Hemoglobin level is low... a little too low. I think you might have another intestinal bleed. Let's get you in and checked on. We'll make an appointment with Gastro." (I see them on the 5th)


...AND ALL ON MY SOBRIETY BIRTHDAY ! ! ! NO FAIR ! It's like having a birthday cake and your stinky little brother blows out your candles right before you try. I'm Mad. I'm mad at the inside of me. I mad that I have to pay the consequences for my own actions. It's all MY fault, but I'm still Mad.

Pensive..... Who, Me ?

Nine days to go before that 2 year Chip and I'm feeling a little... nervous, unquiet, queasy, flighty, uneasy, aflutter, neural, skittish, spooky and anxious. (He Cheated... He used a Thesaurus.) Shut up, Phil. You've been good this whole time... Don't make me get rid of you. I'm not worried or anything. In fact, I'm very comfortable in my sobriety. I do find that I miss some of the "Flavors", believe it or not. A dark "Sipping Rum" and a tasting of some of the nice micro-brews and inported "Specialty" beers. Don't get me wrong. The ONLY thing that will ever pass these lips again is the "Sacramental" wine, just touched to my lips at Church. NO WORRIES, O.K. ?

I Remember...

It was about a year ago and I was going Ape-Shit Crazy, waiting for the month of October to be over. It meant that November 1st was coming, and that is my Sobriety Date... I was going to have one year ! I was So Excited about that ! ONE WHOLE YEAR ! Physically, it wasn't hard to do. I knew that "One More Drunk" could literally kill me. It was Mental and Emotional that were hard.

Mentally, I would think that "Just one won't hurt" Emotionally, when I felt anxiety, "Just one will take the edge off ". If I was bored, "Just one would relax me a little... three would take away the boredom completely" That's how I used to think. NOW... I know one more could kill me, sharpen the edge, and create a false sense of entertainment.

Two years Sober is only 2 weeks away, and I'm still looking forward to it... Just not like I did before. My transplant is on hold, now, so I'm not busting my ass to qualify, make appointments, prove my "worthiness". By quitting drinking and drugging, I'm not getting worse, but I'll never get better. I can become healthier, but never healthy. My goal is no longer a life or death situation. Staying Sober is, but getting sober isn't anymore. I don't know, it's kind of weird.

Regardless, here I am... 2 Years Sober (almost), healthier (mostly), and free from the insanity (actually not even close, but 2 out of three ain't bad). As long as I can keep putting one foot in front of the other, without falling over, I guess I'm in good shape.