Life is But a Tweet Away

Let me begin by saying I can't believe it's been over seven weeks since I last updated my blog. When I first started it, I fully intended to do it 2-3 times a week. However, between tearing my achilles tendon in mid-October and simply having other interests these days, I haven't found the time.

It's been quite an interesting year on many levels for me. I've had some rough patches but found a way to work through them. I feel more in control of things than ever before. I am not shy to voice my opinion and I've decided life is too short for games and drama.

I've got a beautiful wife who I first wrote to via http://www.jewishsinglesconnection.com/ (the predecessor to J-Date) on December 23, 1998, which means we have been together for 10 years now. She is my rock and my strength and I love her more than words can say. I'm trying hard to help keep the house clean and help more and more with things I used to put off.

We are fortunate to be blessed with two beautiful children - Bailey, our 4 1/2 year old son, and Riley, our daughter who turned one this past Sunday. They are both amazing children, and after so many difficulties trying to have both of the, we feel fortunate to be blessed with such wonderful kids.

My job at Tilson Communications is going well. I've been there for a little over 2 years and am enjoying the versatility of our clients. I am also speaking up a lot more and not shy when it comes to my opinion.

One discovery I made this year that has changed the way I approach everything is a micro-blogging service called Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/). In 140 characters, you tell people what you are doing, answer questions, and basically communicate with people of similar interests. I first discovered the service in late-August through a tele-seminar that I wasn't expecting to learn much from.

Then, a lightbulb went off. I immediately understood how great this service was. I saw it as a tool for personal and professional use. I try to integrate a little humor into my tweets whenever possible.

In almost four months' time, I have tweeted from events such as Dunkin' Donuts grand openings, Alan Snel's Tampa Bay Rays celebration ride, an FSU-Miami Football Game, Dania Jai-Alai, Pompano Park at The Isle Casino, an AC/DC Concert, the launch of @TrulyNolen on twitter, rehab appointments for my left ankle, and much more.

I have also discovered the power of people, as a Chicago-area PR professional named @PRSarahevans created a weekly group discussion at http://www.journchat.info/. Created as a way to bring PR professionals together with journalists to discuss relevant topics to each profession, it has caught on like wildfire and I have met so many great people over the last two weeks. In addition, I'm always taking the principles I learn in the discussions back to the office where I work and sharing with my great colleagues.

The way I have my Facebook account set up, my Twitter updates often reset my FB status. I have had friends make snide comments about the amount of updates I do.

You know what? If it makes ME happy, I'm not going to let others bring me down. If I want to tweet a set list from AC/DC, that's my choice. If my friends don't want to read it on FB, they can skip my page that day. If someone on Twitter doesn't like it, they can unfollow me.

So, fair warning to my Facebook friends - I'll be tweeting from our Nova High Class of 1990 (and other classes) reunion at Howl at the Moon this Friday night. Know why? Because I want to. Period.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to all and too all a good night!

I Voted - You Should, Too!

Voting has always been one of the most important things to me in my life. Despite my torn achilles and despite certain-record crowds for the 2008 Presidential Election, my wife and I braved the long lines on November 1 and went to Parkland Library about 20 minutes north of us to early vote. Thanks to some very nice poll workers and people in line, we were able to vote quicker than expected and everyone in line seemed to be full of pride no matter who they were supporting, and didn't mind waiting for hours at a time to vote.

I have always taken my right to vote very seriously. I remember pre-registering to vote in High School right before I turned 18 and then my first ever large scale election was the governor's race in Florida between Bob Martinez and Lawton Chiles. I voted that election (and all of the elections while I attened college) by absentee ballot.

I always understood how important it was to vote. I think part of that was because I had such a great American Government teacher like Mr. Kenneth Bass in high school. He was by far one of the best teachers I ever had and I gained an appreciation for the fine art of politics back then. Heck, one of my classmates from that very class is now the mayor of Hollywood, Florida, so he apparently gained the same appreciation!

Being off my feet as I will be, I'm looking for newer ways to follow Election Day without feeling out of touch. The Palm Beach Post (which is teaming up with many other Florida newspapers in this respect) is going to have a live, interactive Twitter Map that day, available at http://www.palmbeachpost.com/, often as the main art of on the home page, at least until polls close and maybe longer.

Reporters and observers will be at all the polling places, watching for problems, and a reporter from the Post will be tweeting what they see and hear (such as: broken printer, fainting, count problem, legal challenge, etc.) Each tweet (from a special account called PBP_votes) will appear on the map, with a bubble pointing to where the problem or news report comes from. As I am a tweet-a-holic, I can't wait to see how this all works (along with the other goodies at http://www.twitter.com/ that day as well).

So remember, no matter who you are supporting (whether it's Fred Armisten and Jason Sudekis or Darrell Hammond and Tina Fey), vote on Tuesday, November 4. There may be no right as an American more important than this.

My Wife Doesn't Have to Dress Up on Halloween - She IS Wonder Woman!

I can't believe it's been five weeks since I last had some thoughts to type here. Half of that was because I was busy and the other half is because, for those who don't know, I tore my left achilles tendon on Friday October 17 and have been on bedrest ever since. My surgery to repair it was on Wednesday October 22 and I have a doctor's appointment later today to get fitted for a cast so I can hopefully start getting back into the swing of things. My boss was kind enough to lend me a laptop this week so I could start getting back into the swing of things little by little.

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My thanks to all of my friends from Twitter, Facebook, work life and real life (lol) who have continually checked in on me, who are praying for me, and who want to know if there's anything they can do to help. I appreciate all the sentiments and am so glad I have such great friends and so many people who care about me and my well-being.

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That being said, I don't need anything. Want to know why? Because MY WIFE IS WONDER WOMAN:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SOtH1MNXtQ&feature=related

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She has somehow managed to A) Get both kids ready for school (something I usually do), B) Leave me lunch by the side of our bed so I don't starve, C) Drop off the kids in the morning (something I usually do), D) Go to school to teach her 4th grade Rugrats, E) Check on me during the day, F) Pick up Both kids, G) Come home and work on the house (something I help out with) while I spend time watching tv with the kids, H) Make dinner for all of us, I) Bathe the kids (something I normally do), J) Dress them for bed (something i normally do), and K) Tuck the kids in for bed (something I normally do).

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How she is doing all of this with a chipper outlook and no complaints, I'll never know. I truly married a special woman. I always knew that. I just didn't know that I married Wonder Woman.

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So honey, in case I haven't said it enough...I love you more than words can say. You mean the world to me. Just tell me WHY you've kept this secret identity hidden for so many years!

Don't Change For You, Don't Change A Thing For Me

My life has always seemed like one big 1980's mish-mash of songs. From "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths to "Nobody's Diary" by Yaz to "Bring on the Dancing Horses" by Echo and the Bunnymen, these songs remind me of so many good times in my youth. However, they seem even more poignant today.

One song that really reflects my mood lately is a song I discovered a few years ago by accident. During the 1980's, the only songs they ever played of INXS on the radio were "What You Need", "Need You Tonight", "New Sensation", "Devil Inside", and "Never Tear Us Apart." When I got Sirius Radio a few years ago, I instantly became hooked on Channel 22 - First Wave. On it was a song called "Don't Change" by INXS. I became curious and looked for it on YouTube, and it can be found at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMrL_4NyQr0

Something about this song has stayed with me since the first day I heard it. Then it dawned on me why. Without going into too many details, I've changed a lot of habits. I'm not as dialed in to Fantasy Football as I used to be. I don't watch a lot of sports on TV. I haven't watched a single Monday Night Football game this season as of yet. I go days without responding to friends' emails. There's many other things I could say here, but I think I've said enough.

Through it all, my wife and soulmate has been my rock. She has blessed me with two beautiful children is always there when I need her. Then, listening to this song last week, it became quite clear - the song foreshadows how 2008 started for me and where I am right now - if it wasn't for Sara, I don't know what I would do.

So honey, from the bottom of my heart...

I'm standing here on the ground
The sky above won't fall down
See no evil in all direction
Resolution of happiness
Things have been dark
For too long

Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me

I look forward to waking up tomorrow and seeing nothing but sunny skies!

Boundless Energy

As I get older, I am finding that while I still keep the same crazy hours I always have (i.e. 4-5 hours of sleep per day), I may be slowing down just a bit. In this picture of my daughter Riley and me, I think I'm ready for a nap. Riley, on the other hand, seems to be picking up my mantra at an early age.

Riley is 8 1/2 months old now (once again, evidence that TIME FLIES), and she is so different than Bailey ever was. As evidence of this:

1) She refuses to let me feed her without her grabbing her jar of food and getting her hands all filled with peas and stuff. Bailey was never a Grabby McGee!

2) She fights sleep at all costs. While this is similar to my schedule, I don't fight sleep - I just don't sleep. She will close her eyes and then force herself awake - we caught her doing this at Disney the other night, and it was really funny.

3) She is a lot more vocal than Bailey ever was at this age. While Bailey will not stop talking NOW, I don't recall Bailey making so many "ma ma ma ma ma" "ba ba ba ba ba" sounds at this age.

4) She tricked us in the van today on the way home - we thought she was hungry because she wouldn't stop crying, and when I stopped the car in Boynton Beach so Sara could feed her, she instead decided she wanted to play with Sara instead of eat and she kept cracking herself up about it. Sneaky little thing, my daughter.

5) Last but not least, she always cracks up around Bailey. Of course, I do too, but that's a totally different story.

Oh, to be that young again and be able to have that kind of energy. I miss those days!

A Night at the Palace

It was very strange walking into one of my favorite places on Earth Tuesday night. As one of millions of people in this country that participates in Fantasy Football, we had our draft at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.

I worked there from 2004 to 2006 and enjoyed every minute of it; however, I hadn't stepped foot inside since mid-2007 and so with so many enhancements since I had moved on, I was curious how it was all going to look to me.

As I drove in the front gate, I took this picture with my Sprint instinct. It's always so picturesque and I'm glad no one has tried to change the look of Addison Mizner's masterpiece which debuted in 1926 and the Schulz and Weaver add-on lobby of 1928. The palm trees have always given the hotel a special look on the way to the hotel's front valet area.

Since I was early (as per norm), I made a right when I walked in and proceed to the area I knew as the Piazza when I worked at the hotel. The old gold ceiling had been replaced with a clear ceiling skylight that definitely let the sunshine into the east lobby.

There was new carpeting and furniture throughout the hotel. The changes definitely grew on me last night in the time I was there.

Our draft was held in the Governor's Suite on the 6th Floor of the Cloister. The Cloister is the original of the hotel's five buildings. As normal for any fantasy football draft, we had plenty of pizza and beverages to go around but failed to start on time...big surprise. That seems to always happen!

It was my 3rd draft in 9 days, and I think I was ready to go on auto-pilot by the 10th round. If you haven't seen a group of guys and girls during a draft, it's quite a site - people telling other people they loved the pick - people telling other people that guy was 123rd on their draft board - people picking people only they've hear of - and people making plans to see each other during the season (but often failing to do so due to busy schedules and the like).

So how did it all end? It's always nice to visit old friends - even ones you worked at and know like the back of your hand. As for my team, solid for sure. I'm definitely ready for some football.

A Walk In The Park

After running into an old friend today at a birthday party and telling her she should start her own blog because she has such a diverse background and so much to share with others, I thought to myself, "Why not me? Why not now?"

As I shape the direction I want this to take, I'm sure it will eventually take on one general theme. So forgive me if my initial thoughts seem to be held together by glue rather than cohesive thoughts.

When did my son get so big? I stumbled across the attached profile picture of him and I walking through a park in Parkland, Florida when he wasn't even two years old yet. He's getting so big so fast, and yet, he's still my little boy. He's been a great big brother to his sister, who hasn't gotten any teeth yet, let alone started fully crawling.

He's something else, that kid. I managed to lock myself out of the house the other morning with him AND my daughter inside (as we were getting ready to leave for daycare). After my life flashed before my eyes, I began frantically knocking on the door. No answer. I knocked louder. No answer. I knocked even louder. Then I heard a voice, "Daddy?" I pleaded with my son to let me in.

Naturally, he turned the bolt the wrong way and I somehow managed not to panic. I encouraged him to turn the bolt back the other way and then turn the door knob (which always opens from the inside). Sure enough, he did it, and I gave him a huge hug and told him how proud I was of him. He then said to me, "Daddy, I thought you were a stranger." That my four year old knew not to let me in without checking thoroughly first really made me feel good as a parent, and also made me realize that perhaps my wife and I are doing something right.

It's moments like these that make me treasure every walk in the park I've ever taken with him, and makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have two happy, healthy kids and a wife who is my soulmate.

Now if I could just get him to share the computer with me a little more - those darn Webkinz!