Sunday, March 22, 2009

Guilty Pleasures


Tonight I indulged in one of my favorite guilty pleasures that very few people who know me know about - professional bull riding. I started watching during a time when I was home-bound and bored, having a hard time dealing with my broken bones on top of my COPD. My favorite at this time is Guilherme Marchi, a Brazilian rider who won last year's top spot in the world championship. I would like to see him be the first to win 2 in a row.

It all started innocently enough. I was so bored with television. I spent all of my time at home after I broke my right shoulder and left hip. It was impossible for me to get out except for infrequent vistits to the doctors so I was at the mercy of people who would visit me and the television for entertainment. Ha! I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, and finding something that held my interest for an hour was really a challenge. I watched the PBR and it made my heart beat faster. At first, I was thrilled with the prospect of a wreck. Those were awful and I was so impressed with how they came back so soon after devastating injuries. I continued watching it and I began rooting for particular cowboys that sparked my interest. Eventually, I learned what it was all about and began to admire the cowboys for their ability. They really are athletes!

This has all led me to watching Dancing With the Stars because Ty Murray, a bull riding hero, is competing. I voted for him 13 times by cell phone in the first 2 weeks! You have to understand, I don't EVER do this for ANYONE on ANY TV show.

So what started as a diversion, has turned into an obsession and a very happy guilty pleasure! I watch every week and follow the riders from week to week to see how they are doing. Don't tell anyone, but if someone calls me during a show, I ignore it!

Sunday, March 01, 2009


It's been a while since I posted to this blog. I seemed to have lost my voice for a while but I'll be working on that.

I was having a good couple of weeks with my breathing, but all of a sudden today it feels like I'm breathing through water. This merry go round is making me dizzy, the good days and the bad ones. But at least I had those two weeks!

My brothers gave me the greatest gift for Christmas: their time and tickets to see Kris Kristofferson. Kris is a long time hero of mine and I've been listening to his music since the 70's. So last Sunday we three went to a concert. And it was awesome! It was killer getting from the car to the theater, and we had to drive me eventually because I just wasn't good at walking through the snow and I ran out of breath long before we got there. The show was worth the effort and it was better than old times, being with my brothers.