A New Beginning

I started this blog and I have yet to write a single entry.

Matt is definitely a more talented writer and I happily handed it over to him. Just like many other things in our lives, I get it started and he runs with it. Take for example, our Facebook account. I had a nice, little, private account with my closest friends and he adds his and it blows up to nearly 800.

While Matt is away on a "boys trip," with his brothers, I started to contemplate the benefit of taking trips with people who've known you forever. Through these relationships, I find it remarkable that spending time with those who have known you from childhood ground you in your core self.

These relationships allow you shake off the labels of mom, dad, wife or anything other than the core you. It was in Mexico, on the beach, with my childhood friends where this thought really took shape. Connecting to the core "Holly" provided me with the opportunity to come home re-freshed and more capable of giving of myself. My true self.

I loved that Matt was able spend time with his brothers. I wish I could have been a fly on his shoulder and watched as the three of them interacted without a care in the world.

Connecting ourselves to the core us is as important as anything we can do for those we love!

I'm ready...

Hi. We're blink-182. This past week there’ve been a lot of questions about the current status of the band, and we wanted you to hear it straight from us. To put it simply, We're back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in our legacy.

Summer 2009.

Thanks and get ready...

It's up to you...

We have all scripted phone conversations. Whether it was for your girlfriend in high school or business meetings today, each and every one of us have sat down and made out an agenda before picking up the phone.

Sometimes we needed to fill an awkward silence during a conversation. Other times we needed to break a heart or two. We have all been there; we have all used notes to make us sound better on the phone.

Regardless of the situation, the outcome was usually the same: Scripted conversations make you sound smarter than you really are. During a scripted conversation you are more prepared instead of fumbling in search of the perfect words.

So why don’t we script every call? For one, it takes forever. Secondly, it’s tedious. And third, we just don’t want to put the effort into such a simple task. But imagine if we turned our telephone conversations from monotonous monotone marathons to dynamic and fast paced mini-events that could inspire, motivate and manipulate your dearest friends and loved ones.

You’d pay for that.

But how much would you pay? $1,000? $2,000? $10,000?

Well my friends, today’s your lucky day. Because for only $19.95 a month, I will turn your hum-drum telephone calls into notable occurrences. Your conversations will now include jokes, information on current events, banter and manipulation techniques that are guaranteed to make you the hit of your circle of influence.

Suddenly, your calls will sound more like bits on the radio and less like those horrible driver’s education videos in school where all you heard was WA WA WA.

In today’s world, nearly all of our communication is done over the phone or through texting and emailing. You can go years without ever meeting an individual you communicate with. If you could make that person feel better everyday, how much more would he or she like you? How much better would your relationship be with your siblings, parents and or boss?

Imagine it, you see your mom is calling, you log onto my site and before you know it, she is laughing so hard that she completely forgets to ask why you don’t have more kids, have too many kids or don’t have any kids at all. Then, before she can begin to nag you about your diet, you are 3 minutes into a mini-stand-up routine that Chris Rock would be proud of and she hangs up the phone wondering how her child is so completely wonderful.

Or, you're caught with your boss on the phone and he/she is just about to ask you about the important assignment you blew off, when suddenly you throw in a one-liner about the Inauguration and you are off the hook.

But this phenomenal service does not only include inbound calls. You will also receive special notes for birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. But that’s not all, sign up today and you will receive our special “Bad News” package, that includes elegant and thoughtful ways to end relationships, decline party invites and let people know it is time to go on a diet or change their hair.

The ball is now in your court. Through our remarkable technology, you have the power to sound better on the phone. Shouldn’t you put your money where your mouth is…?

PS – I’m kidding….ahhhh, unless you really want to pay me $20 a month. Then, I’m your man.

She has skills...

I was once told that the owner of the Cheesecake Factory has a perfectly pitched palette. He allegedly could determine the exact recipe of an entrée by merely tasting it on the tip of his tongue. He also weighed about 450 pounds, so too much of anything can be bad for you.

And although the Cheesecake Factory is not my favorite place to eat, I admire this man and his skills. I would love to meet him and take him to events with me. Imagine how impressed everyone would be when he told them exactly what is in the fondue. OK, it is not too hard to guess that cheese may be in the fondue, but now you would know once and for all why it is so tasty.

If I could pick a skill, it would have to include some ability to listen to a song on the radio and instantly be able to sing it, verbatim, at a perfect pitch. How great would that be? I hear a song, record it in my mind and then stand up in Chilies and belt it out.

In fact, it would not matter where it was. People would love to hear hits from the 70s, 80, 90s and today sung in front of their eyes. They would be in such awe that they would most likely forget that they were eating dinner with their family before I barged in unannounced, and sat down at their dining room table.

I am not the only one in my family who likes to sing. Cali is the youngest of my five children and can sing for six hours without taking a break. And while this may not be as noteworthy as a perfectly pitched palette, I did witness it first hand yesterday.

Without as much as a pause for refreshment, Cali sang and sang and sang. I would have been proud, if I had not been the cause of her "excitement." Earlier in the day, I was simply minding my own business, watching the second half of the Giants/Eagles game, when I decided to enjoy a Red Bull.

Holly and I had made the choice to run in the morning and I was feeling fantastic. I drank one, which led to two. But two, unlike what all of you are thinking, turned into too much, which left my glass sitting on the coffee table behind the couch.

Being super perceptive, I turned around and saw Cali fishing out the ice from my drink and putting it in her mouth. At this point, I did not know how much ice she had eaten. I would soon find out, it may have been a lot. She began singing and singing and singing. She would not stop. She also did not sit down. She was on fire. A Red Bull fire.

Before you send me hundreds of outraged comments about "How I should be more careful and I should not give Red Bull to a baby" and "It’s a good thing I don’t do crack, because who knows where I would leave it laying around," you need to simply remember that if it were not for Red Bull and its ability to enhance my "efforts," Cali would not be here at all.

So I think we have learned a tremendous lesson today.

Focus on your kids talents and not your own and, while you are at it, tell them to get their own drinks, it's a lot easier that way.