Tom, oh Tom, where foreart thou fair Tom?

Give me back to the days of the old Tom Cruise. The Tom who didn't attack Matt Lauer on the Today show, or the Tom who realized Oprah's couch was for sitting, not aerobics. I long for the days of yesteryear when seeing Tom Cruise in the news meant something good: like heaven forbid...actually promoting his movies instead of calling psychiatry a "pseudo-science." Really Tom, you shouldn't ostracize the psychiatric community right now....at the rate you are going you just might need their help soon.

I can't even watch my Special Edition Top Gun DVD anymore without being reminded of how my beloved Navy Pilot who coined the phrase, "I feel the need, the need for speed," is now acting as if he is on speed. Really, Tom...you're freaking me out.

An Equal Opportunity Clother

A few weeks ago I saw Will Farell on the Oprah show promoting his new movie, "Bewitched." During the course of the interview he divulged a rather odd habit of his: He rotates his wardrobe on an even schedule. He doesn't want to wear one pair of shoes too much, or one shirt more than another. So whatever comes up next in his closet is what he wears, regardless of whether it matches or not. An interesting system to be sure...Yet perhaps Will is on to something.

As I write this I have a direct line of sight into my closet, and my many pairs of shoes. It occurred to me that I have a couple of pairs of shoes that I wear quite often. The other pairs don my feet with little regularity or frequency. And while Will certainly has an unusual and refreshing approach to this problem, I am not sure it is the solution for me. If I showed up to work wearing my black sundress and my brown clogs I would get more than a few stares and snickers. Will Farell can get away with that sort of thing. Me, not so much.

Reality Check

What is it about being young that makes us feel invincible? As if sickness, death or tragedy will not spit its poison dart at us simply because we haven't made it "over the hill" yet. Case in point: I have a friend who is only 1 year older than I am. Today she found out that she might have ovarian cancer. She has to have surgery in the next two weeks so they can perform a biopsy on the tissue that has invaded her body. Scary? I think so.

It is, at the very least a reality check. At age 23, Cancer hasn't exactly been on my list of things to keep watch for. Cancer is a disease for old people-- Or at least people older than I am. Unbelievably though, today was a lesson in the fact that cancer (or disease in general for that matter) is an equal opportunity organization. It does not discriminate based on age, race, gender, or religious affiliation. I'll be the first to admit that the dreaded yearly exam isn't exactly high on my list of things to do. But if it'll save my life...

Travels

This is me with the city of Shanghai, China in the background.