Some Random Sunday Morning Thoughts...

"There is something so human about struggling to hold on..."
Jessica Lange, CBS Sunday Morning, February 24, 2008

From Kelvin Sampson losing his job as Head Coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team, to the Michelle Obama non-story, to John "Methuselah" McCain's very real problem with ethics and lobbyists (whether they be blond and female is beside the point), throughout this muddled news cycle I have been fighting the big scary monster known as major depression. I think I turned a corner on Friday evening as I talked to a friend who lives in California and mentioned that I was thinking about heading to Columbus, Ohio to work on Obama's campaign and to see Stephanie Miller who will be appearing on Saturday evening at a the Makoy Center in Hilliard, Ohio. She encouraged me to go ahead and make the plans, and as I had some frequent flyer miles that I had to use or lose, I booked a flight from Tulsa, OK to Columbus, OH. I fly out Saturday morning and back the next day - I don't have any idea how useful I may or may not be to the Obama campaign in one afternoon, but I will be there, showing my support, making phone calls, and cheering on Momma - who is unabashedly for Obama (AKA Stephanie Miller, for those of you who are new to this blog).

Just the day before yesterday, I would have characterized this trip as something I wanted to do before I die, something that would have been a real possibility just a few days ago, but I have climbed out of that deep, dark hole and even though there isn't much sunlight outside here in Tulsa this weekend, there is a fresh light inside me. I will go on, I will not give in to the bleak feeling of despair that overtakes me from time to time. I got through this difficult time with the generous help of a fantastic counselor at TU and the equally excellent help of a young psychiatrist at OU/Tulsa. I owe them many, many thanks and if it isn't too grandiose to say, I owe them my life, and it was their caring concern over the last three weeks that got me through this rough time. It was not just professional help that got me through the last few weeks, it was also the help and concern of a few good friends, including my on-air and online friends (namely the crew of the Stephanie Miller Show and the amazing group at FourFreedomsBlog), and the thoughtful listening and advice from a few wonderful co-workers.

I will certainly be blogging about the trip on this site, and I'll keep you posted on how it all shakes out - thanks for hanging in there with me. Sometimes I feel like I am living my life online, and I wonder about the wisdom of putting so much of my self out there for all to see, but it's something I've been doing for over a year now, and I guess I feel like in some way it keeps me honest. It certainly makes me reflect on my own thoughts and opinions and invites others to share their thoughts and comments with me, and I truly appreciate the dialog. So please keep on visiting this site, and please let me know your thoughts on what you read here. Good, bad or indifferent - I'll take it all in and respond in kind. And I promise you I will always be an open, honest voice of a middle-age single progressive/liberal woman from Tulsa, OK, and I won't pull any punches - hope you don't either.

Frank Rich's column, The Audacity of Hopelessness (NYTimes, February 24, 2008)

and in the spirt of fairness, balance and just plain humor, I also give you -

SNL: Bitch is the New Black! Go Hillary! (Tina Fey on Hillary for President)