The Red Hot Chicken species was discovered a little over two years ago off the coast of Hawaii at Quitsquawkin Island. A short documentary was made on this rare and interesting breed. Check it out (it’s less than 2 minutes).

My family and I had an interesting debate over the weekend about what constitutes a sport and what does not. We tried to come up with a pat definition, but we seemed to find exceptions for every ’sport.’ Wikipedia says, “Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. ” We felt their definition was lacking, so we tried to come up with one of our own…

First definition: A sport requires a goal, a team, and a ball.

We all agreed that basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, hockey, rugby, lacrosse, and soccer are sports. They have a goal, a ball, and a team. But there were some exceptions that didn’t fit into our neat little definition.

Tennis has a ball but not a team. Does that mean it’s not a sport? Since it doesn’t have a ball does that mean boxing isn’t a sport? What about skiing, or skating? Running or track? “Activities,” my son said. “But these events are in the Olympics,” I replied. “So are a lot of games I don’t consider sports,” he retorted.

Is golf a sport? I know it’s hard to do well, but when big, fat guys with cigars can play it without breaking a sweat, is that really a sport? Bowling can’t really be considered a sport, can it? ESPN covers poker as a sport. POKER! That can’t possibly fit anyone’s definition.

Second definition: A sport requires training, a goal, and exertion.

Okay, then dancing must be a sport, right? It requires extreme training and exertion. “No, it’s a performing art.” Hmmm. I guess that might be so. Still, ballroom dancing is a judged event, as is cheerleading. Sports? What about body building? That is definitely an activity that requires pain for gain.

What about ’sports’ involving animals like horseracing? Is race car driving a sport? Bicycling? You can see my dilemma. What are your thoughts? What is a SPORT?

I was born in a small Midwestern town and grew up mostly in the South. So I have pretty down home roots. I’m the first of my family to earn a college degree and most of them never left Missouri. They certainly aren’t woo woo in any way. So when I got this email from my uncle (who actually, along with my grandmother, is one of the most genuinely positive people I know) it brought tears to my eyes. Just thought I’d share. It’s a good reminder!

*EMAIL*

John is the kind of guy you love to hate.   He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’

He was a natural motivator.
 
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
 
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, ‘I don’t get it!’
 
‘You can’t be a positive person all of the time.  How do you do it?’
 
He replied, ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today.  You can choose to be in a good mood or…you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood.’
 
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it.  I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or…I can point out the positive side of life.  I choose the positive side of life.
 
‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested.
 
‘Yes, it is,’ he said.  ’Life is all about choices.  When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.  You choose how you react to situations.  You choose how people affect your mood.
 
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.  The bottom line:   It’s your choice how you live your life.’
 
I reflected on what he said.  Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business.  We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
 
Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
 
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
 
I saw him about six months after the accident.
 
When I asked him how he was, he replied, ‘If I were any better, I’d be twins… Wanna see my scars?’
 
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
 
‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied.  ’Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices:  I could choose to live or…I could choose to die.  I chose to live.’
 
‘Weren’t you scared?  Did you lose consciousness?’  I asked.
 
He continued, ‘…the paramedics were great.
 
They kept telling me I was going to be fine.  But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.  In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’.  I knew I needed to take action.’
 
‘What did you do?’ I asked.
 
‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,’ said John.  ’She asked if I was allergic to anything ‘Yes, I replied.’  The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.  I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity”
 
Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live.   Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’
 
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude…I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
 
Attitude, after all, is everything.
 
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.’  Matthew 6:34.
 
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

I’m a little embarrassed at my naivete sometimes. See, I studied journalism in college. I was such an idealist, believing that the media simply unbiasedly reported the news. HA. I sadly subscribe to one of the most slanted newspapers in the country…The Los Angeles Times. What a piece of crap that rag is. We only subscribe because our kids are required to be tested on the ‘news’ daily and the other local paper blows even more.

It’s pretty predictable actually that the media would jump on how horrible the economy is. I mean it’s an election year so there has to be some finger pointing, right? Here’s my thought to you. Don’t believe everything you hear. Are you living in squalor? Unable to drive to work or run errands because of the high price of gas? Can’t afford a new lipstick if you want it? Let’s be honest. Our lives are pretty darn good. The hysteria the media would have you believe is completely unfounded. Don’t buy into it. Conduct your life as if you’re running a million dollar business. And guess what…pretty soon you WILL be!!

You know, I just woke up from a beautiful dream gone horribly wrong.

Basically it was a happy, frolicking dream with my husband. Just the two of us deeply connected and in love. Suddenly it turned into a fast nightmare when he began to have a vivid seizure. (Mind you, I’ve never witnessed a seizure in anyone, much less John. And this was more realistic than anything on TV.) He began convulsing in my dream, turning purple and clenching his jaw. In my dream, I thought back to all the rescue tips I’d heard through the years and realized I had no idea what to REALLY do.

I startled awake and went right to the Internet to figure out what to do. What I learned is there are many myths out there about handling seizures…myths that I believed too.

MYTH #1

Put something in their mouth so they don’t ’swallow their tongue.’

TRUTH #1

Don’t ever do that…they could choke on the object.

MYTH #2

Restrain the person.

TRUTH #2

Don’t restrain them…this could cause serious injury to you and the victim. But do remove harmful objects nearby.

MYTH #3

Give the person something to drink.

TRUTH #3

Don’t give them food or water until they are fully recovered (whatever that means) as they could still choke.

Anyway, I know it’s an odd post for a marketing blog but you’ll always find snippets of what’s banging around in my personal mind too. And it just might help save a life down the road. Maybe I had that dream for a reason.

I wait all year long for the Academy Awards! It’s honestly like a national holiday to me. I pride myself on seeing all the top movies but this year I missed a few. While I LOVED “Juno,” I believe “There Will Be Blood” is going to sweep. “No Country for Old Men” has an incongruent ending according to the online buzz (and my hubby John’s review….this was one I missed unfortunately because it’s going to be a heavy hitter). Here are my top predictions:

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day Lewis (hands down, everyone else just go home)

BEST ACTRESS

Julie Christie

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Javier Bardem

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett (cuz she’s not getting Best Actress and she’s flawless)

BEST PICTURE

No Country for Old Men

BEST DIRECTOR

The Coen Brothers for No Country for Old Men

ALL OTHERS…

Does it really matter?

Finally! Our new website at www.RedHotCopy.com is live! I’m so proud of the new format. Check it out!

If you’re getting ready to cast a vote for a Democratic candidate on Super Tuesday, you might be interested in which celebs are backing him/her…

Hillary Clinton
Madonna, entertainer
Billie Jean King, tennis champion
Quincy Jones, musician
Berry Gordy, founder, Motown Records
Stephen Spielberg, director
Maya Angelou, poet
Rob Reiner, director
Barbara Streisand, singer
Kimora Lee Simmons, fashion designer
50 cent, rapper
Jenna Jameson, porn actress
Carly Simon, singer-songwriter
Jerry Springer, talk show host  Barack Obama
Oprah Winfrey, TV personality
Toni Morrison, author
Scarlett Johansson, actress
Ken Burns, filmmaker
John Legend, singer
Matt Damon, actor
George Clooney, actor
Robert Deniro, actor 

(I could only find one celeb backing for John McCain though there could be more – Sylvester Stallone.)

Happy voting!

My Platinum Mastermind with Ali Brown is over after two glorious days in Palm Springs. I didn’t want it to end. I learned so much about the people around me and even about myself. Ready for my biggest AHA? Okay, I’ve heard it before (and I’ll bet you have too) but for some reason it really sank in this time. (Maybe because I’m paying a buttload of money to get insight from this program.)

 ”The decision comes first. The ‘how’ will follow.” It’s truly astounding just how much power we really have over our own incomes and lives. But only about 5% of the people REALLY get that. Are you one of them?

I hate to jump onboard celebrity bashing but this video is disturbing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73VgnemjobU

Seriously I don’t think I can even go to his movies anymore. It’s sad it’s come to this, Tom.