I'll wait for you

Dear Office,

Biggest Loser and I have agreed to see other shows and I just wanted to let you know that I kinda like you. I'm not sure how much depth you have, but you sure do make me laugh. I'm talking, from-the-gut, can-hardly-breathe kind of laughter.

I understand your dad is from England and that he shares your wit. I like traveling and drinking English breakfast tea, so we already have lots in common. You're also endearing even in your obnoxiousness (I hope this isn't news to you) and I admire your willingness to look like a fool in the name of a good laugh.

You have other good qualities too and I'd like to get to know you more.

Unfortunately, according to Hulu.com at my last visit, you aren't available for another 90 years.
Can you somehow bump that up a few decades?

It's not me, it's you

Dear "Biggest Loser, "

When I first met you in fall, 2009, it was love at first sight. I looked forward to our time together on Tuesday evenings and I enjoyed laughing with you, crying with you, and being challenged by you. I felt drawn to you by your efforts to make the world a better place and was touched by your contestants. Like Daniel and his empathy for Shay; Coach Mo and his sweet smile and unassuming demeanor; and Abby, my favorite from the start, with her genuine heart and amazing attitude. And when that dear sweet soul talked about her devastating loss and the way it sucked the life out of her, I cried. But it just made it that much more rewarding when she spoke about regaining that spark and that joy of life.

We went through hard times too, but we came out better. Like when one of your contestants tried to make excuses and Jillian said, "I'm not going to co-sign on your bulls%*t." I cheered and clapped at your honesty and your courage to push her to that breakthrough she so desperately needed.

So I looked forward to our reunion in 2010. But I'm afraid, Biggie, that you've changed. Suddenly, it seems you're all drama and no heart. So far, you have only a few contestants I really want to get behind (shout out to the tenacious Stephanie and the endearing cousins with giant hearts). I'm sorry to say that I spend a lot more time rolling my eyes and a lot less time feeling your story. I'm just not sure we have that much in common anymore.

If things don't change between us, I'm moving on to bigger and better things. I only have so much room on the DVR and I'm not going to waste it on unnecessary drama and bad attitudes.

I do care about you, my dear show, and I hope we can work things out.

Hope for Haiti and Planting for Peace

Unless you're specifically trying not to see and hear the stories, you've probably heard of brokenhearted family members still searching through rubble in Haiti and seen images of the many amputees, motherless children, and exhausted rescuers. You've probably read of volunteers, like Gary Garner, who said upon his departure, that he would "go home and cry."

The images don't seem to fit in a place reachable from Florida by two hours on a plane. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and life there was already tragic before this earthquake. One young man, who was nominated for the CNN Hero award in 2007, has been invested deeply in Haiti for years. He operates his organization, Planting for Peace, while paying little attention to his own needs. It's been widely reported that he lives in squalor, while giving all he can to his various efforts--providing medication to de-worm Haitians and operating orphanages among them. If CNN can get behind him, I can, too. The donation page is here. You can send money or goods.

Another way (and there are plenty more) to contribute is to buy the album from Friday's Hope for Haiti Now. It's available on iTunes and all profits are donated to Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF, and the United Nations World Food Programme.

Soy vida

After meeting the seven-foot polar bear and the tour guides who "know everything," I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Coca Cola museum.

And then I watched Fizzy Bot (the packaging robot) fill bottles and I moved on to a hall commemorating milestones from the invention of the beverage to the penning of the logo.

But what really got me feeling excited (and thirsty), were international commercials and ads from years past. My favorite promoted unity and diversity. In it, people from all around the world pull their tables and tablecloths into the street and set them up side by side in one big neighborhood picnic. They share their foods with each other, and of course, they each have a coke in hand.

In another, from the 70s, people in the garb of the day gather from different countries and cultures to sing on a hillside,
"I'd like to buy the world a coke and teach them all to sing..."

One was just plain entertaining--a kid on a park bench imitates a cell phone ring and pretends to look for his phone. Finally, he pulls a bottle of coke from his pocket, opens it, and holds it out to a girl sharing the bench, "It's for you."

After watching who knows how many coke bottles being opened on screen, they finally send you into a tasting room where you can drink all the coke products you could possible want. They have the American classics as well as products from around the world. Sweet, fruity (grape, kiwi, strawberry, orange, etc.), sour (like Lemon Wacky Hello), minty, and more. Some tasted familiar, and some were just yucky.

Luckily, I'd been warned to drink only small portions so I didn't leave feeling sick, but I still drank enough to have a sugar high.

And, brilliant marketers that they are, the good people of Coke get you all hopped up on sugar and then send you into the Coke store, where you have opportunity to spend whatever money you have left on Coke products, complete with Coke labels. I don't often like paying full price, especially for the privilege of advertising a product, but there was one shirt that left me happy to do both. It has the following words printed across the front: snowflakes, long walks, new crayons, blowing bubbles, music, fresh sheets, watermelon, parades, rock and roll, tulips, yellow galoshes, green grass, tire swings, ice cream sandwiches, plane rides, bowling, freckles, surfing, sandcastles, field trips, going to the park, blue jeans, cupcakes, roller coasters, balloons, patios, stargazing, horseback riding, going to the zoo, pinwheels, tree-climbing, tennis, inside jokes, old movies, corn on the cob, teddy bears, graduation, and tree houses.

To me, the shirt represents the last words of one of the international commercials, "Soy vida" which means "I am life."