ENCOURAGING WORDS

"My heroes are the ones 

who survived doing it wrong, 

who made mistakes, 

but recovered from them."

~ Bono~

(no, I was not about to kiss him, though it looks that way...LOL)

MAKE NEW FRIENDS, BUT KEEP THE OLD...

One is silver and the other?  Well, the other mightpost incriminating photos of you from back in theday on Facebook...or as we who are adoringly addicted refer to it, FB.

"Mom!  When are ya gettin' off the computer?" Daniel asks every night.

"Soon!" I whine, all the while sneaking another old photo onto my scanner, chuckling madly all the way. "Wait till the ol' gang sees THIS!" I giggle.

Oh, yeah.  Good times, good times.

And, I have to say, other than having to wrestle the computer away  from me for FB time, Daniel seems to be handling my newfound passion fairly well. And, while I so get it why kids flocked to FB, I don't really think they fully appreciate what this particular technology means to us aging Baby Boomers...I mean, how could they?

They know nothing of  fashioning a "phone" out of  two cans and a connecting string just to hear a couple of peeps out of their pal standing but a few feet away. Sure, my best friend Valli and I thought we'd struck pay dirt when I got battery-operated walkie talkies for my 12th birthday...but imagine our disappointment when we could barely hear each other's voices and we only lived two houses apart. And remember pen pals? Remember that excruciatingly looooooong wait for a snail mail letter from that friend you made at summer camp, or from your best buddy who had moved far away? 

Granted, there is still something mighty special about getting a card or a "real" letter in your mailbox written in a friend's familiar handwriting. And yes,we had telephones back in the day, as I tell Daniel. But our parents would never have DREAMED of allowing us to talk endlessly on the phone locally, let alone gabby-gab long distance.

I remember thinking Google was pretty cool...and I tracked down a few former acquaintances -- much to their surprise -- once I got the hang of that. And Classmates.com seemed like the perfect friend finder at first -- until I realized that the only way I could email those old classmates was to pay a monthly fee...and something about CM.com just seemed so, so cumbersome...I dunno.

Furthermore, with cell phones so prolific , it's harder to use Information to find people's numbers cuz so many folks just aren't listed any more. In fact, I had to track down my buddies Fran and Beck-mo via their daughters whom I discovered after pouring over FB.

OK, so my house is a shambles, and I'm a few days late getting that car payment in the mail. And Daniel is off to Wal-Mart buying socks because, well, I'm a tad behind in the laundry department...but what price talking every night to your favorite peeps, some of whom you have not seen or talked to since you were a 26-year-old cub reporter (as in the above photo)?

"I've come to the dark side," my dear high school chum Beth jokingly wrote on someone's wall the other day. Beth's daughter, Missy, bless her heart, got her set up on FB at the urging of Beth's old high school chum, Sherri. 

Dark side, indeed!  There are a million and one other things one should be doing besides listing their five favorite movies or sending an Athens Block to an old college roommate or a Piece of Flair (FB verbiage for a funny button) to a dozen friends. But in this crazy, mixed-up, recession-fraught world, FB is the perfect way to reach out and touch friends, old and new, inexpensively and often.

Now, if I would just get off my FB behind and pull  those old, moldy Rubbermaid totes out of the basement, I am sure I would harvest a healthy handful or three more  of "incriminating" pictures from yesteryear to post on  my wall...it's just so much FUN!

Yesterme. Yesteryou. Yesterday. Today.

Facebook's impact on my life thus far? In a word?

Inexplicable!

SO, I SAYS TO PETER FRAMPTON, I SAYS...

I am such a squirrel...

I went out on a Facebook limb a few days ago and --  since we have a mutual friend in Cincinnati - I sent a friend request to Peter Frampton...yes, THE Peter Frampton (he lives in Cinci)...

And in my message I  offered the 70s' rock legend an early "Welcome to Iowa" since he will be performing at the Iowa State Fair this summer...

Imagine  my complete and utter surprise when I checked my email tonight and Peter had actually confirmed me as a friend -- me and 28 other "friends", of course -- but it's a friend confirmation nonetheless...

So what if the guy has almost 2,000 friends on his friends' list...

"Ann Heise Kult is friends with Peter Frampton"... it says so right on my Facebook wall, plain as the nose on your face. Whodathunk?

Nevermind that I fell asleep at the Peter Frampton/Gary Wright concert at Ohio University back in...when was that anyway...'76? '77?  We're buds now, and that's all that matters....

LOL

"Oh, sure, now you won't be coming for Michelle's wedding this summer, you'll be coming to see Peter Frampton!" my friend, Linda (mother of the bride-to-be), said, feigning a sniff, when I called to tell her of my Facebook news.

Now, anyone who know me knows I am never one to let my brushes with the famous go to my head...

Ted Kennedy...Michael McDonald...Jessica Lange...the late John Ritter...Robert Kennedy, Jr. ...Bono...

I could go on, but I don't want to BORE you...oh, well, all right, what the heck...

"I remember you...you were that girl with the camera!" an exasperated Michael McDonald said to me after I managed to dodge secruity and make my way to the stage following  a Doobie Brothers concert at OU in the late 70s. (I had been backstage at a concert on the river in Davenport the summer before and had my picture taken with him a couple of  dozen times.)

"I take presents but I don't talk to people,'" Jessica Lange chortled (yes, I tell you, the woman chortled )  as she waltzed past me after I had waited for an hour outside her trailer on the Waterloo, IA set where they originally filmed "Country" in the early 80s...I was there on assignment and had hoped against hope for an interview...

I was sort of but not quite related to actor John Ritter, actually, seeing as he was married to actress Amy Yasbeck,my step-sister's ex sister-in-law...what a wonderfully warm, funny man he was.  I only met him once back in the early 90s...

Robert Kennedy, Jr., made my day at the National Hog Summit held in Clear Lake, IA back in 2001 when he personally thanked me for an investigative piece I'd done on some corporate hog confinement shenanigans that had taken place in Stuart, IA. He even referred to my article in his keynote address...

And I am sure Bono will never forget our meeting/interview at the Iowa Harvest Restaurant in Stuart during his quick stop on his way to Iowa City for an AIDS awareness concert in 2002...

But through it all, I've never forgotten the little people...

Did I mention I went to college with that Today Show hunk, Matt Lauer? And Peter King, of Sports Illustrated fame?

Well, ta-ta for now, my dahlings!  Please, I beg you...Don't hate me because rockstar Peter Frampton has confirmed me  as one of his 2,000 closest Facebook peeps... 

Hollywood Kult signing off.

Kisses.

MUSIC TO FACEBOOK BY

Harry Chapin Sings Circle Live via Noolmusic.com


I have to be brutally honest here....Facebook has taken over my life.

I have a kitchen full of dirty dishes, a living room full of, I dunno, dust and empty Gatorade bottles...and laundry strewn about begging for hangers...and still I sit here, glass of wine in hand, glued to Facebook.

I just finished chatting with Ned, my Cedar Falls Record photog co-hort -- I still can't believe he is freaking 45 years old -- he was like 17 or 18 the last time I saw him...he remembers my laugh...

Utmo, the former Newsday newshound-turned-pastor, is back in my life -- she always made me feel like I belonged at the OU Post -- even thought I couldn't edit my way out of a paper bag...thanks, Utmo!

Angie D., the daughter of my friend Frannie from my Cedar Falls days....she added me as a friend. The last time I saw her she was like, seven. She's all grown up.

Michelle L. is getting married in June -- she says as long as I have the right shoes, the pink potato sack I will be wearing to the Big Event (I am a reader) should be fine...LOL. We chatted for some time...I know her mom thinks I'm nuts for being on FB -- but clearly, I am hooked.

Granted, Celmo and I haven't exactly adorned each others' walls with notes of mutual adoration -- all these many years later...I am truly sorry about that COPE T-shirt, bud -- blame it on hormones...thankfully, I am so not the person I was back at OU...

I often think he only added me as a friend because he remembers my past inability to deal rationally with rejection...and he was afraid to NOT add me...LOL.

My fave way to read my FB page is to music....I added Lyrics Domain...on the left sidebar... find lyrics domain...click "video" and, voila!  The Moody Blues (still hunky Justin Hayward) belts out "I Know You're Out There Somehwere" -- is that not the perfect Facebook search song? LOL...

I have also downloaded -- or uploaded -- The Beatles "In My Life" -- another PERFECT Facebook song....

There are places I remember

All my life, though some have changed...

Some forever not for better

Some have gone and some remain...

All these places have their moments;

With lovers and friends, I still can recall;

Some are dead and some are living...

In my life I've loved them all...

Now, you can also click on my Facebook badge on my blog, and my blog playlist will start -- that's got some great tunes to read my Facebook by -- the always popular Mister Softee song... Bob Seger's "Accompany Me"...Neil Diamond's "Hello'"...

I know. I am supposed to be cleaning...

I have done some cleaning. Some.

It's just that I can't help but marvel over modern technology...

It seems like I've been here before;

I can't remember when;

But I have this funny feeling

That we'll all be together again...

Oh, there are a few folks out there who might not want to "friend" me at this point -- Tipper, Miguelito...I haven't always been the perfect friend...I admit it. I am far from perfect. I've made mistakes. 

I called Mrs.W. tonight -- it's her 84th birthday...she was the mom I always wanted but never had.. I have been HORRIBLE about keeping in touch -- life happens. But she still loves me. 

Nancy W. and I were thick as thieves...God, those were good times... a simpler time...

Life is soooooo short...I am not the same person I was back in college -- thank God - nor am I the same person I was 20 minutes ago...

Ned remembers my laugh..

I know you're out there somewhere

Somewhere, somewhere...

I know you're out there somewhere

Somewhere you can hear my voice...

I know I'll find you somehow

Somehow, somehow...

And somehow I'll return again to you.

This is just too awesome...

FRIEND ME, BABY!

I know. I know.

I didn't bash Barbie on her 50th birthday...an event like that SCREAMS for a blog post...

I mean I have ridiculed that pathetic plastic fashion doll diva off and on for almost 30 years...and then I go and MISS her 50th birthday? What was I thinking? I mean, people like my sister have come to rely on me to provide them with some sort of anti-Barbie humor on such special occasions. Admittedly,  I've let my sis and others down.

All I can say is, hey, I've been busy.

Well, not busy exactly.

I've been "friending".  You, know...on Facebook.

Yes, for six fun-filled hours Monday night, I  scoured Facebook, searching for just about everyone I used to know, work with, go to high school/college with, passed in a crosswalk at some point in my life who might have a Facebook account -- and then  I "requested" their friendship, and had to be "accepted" before officially "adding" them to my official list of friends.

I mean, I was obsessed!

(And that is sooooo unlike me, I know.)

The really cool thing is, without leaving my living room, I was successful in reconnecting with just about everyone I used to know,work with, go to high school/college with, passed in a crosswalk at some point in my life who has a Facebook account.

"Don't you dare friend me!" my now-16-year-old son verily hissed at me...

Oh, don't worry, darling...I realize that would not be cool. I'm also hip to the fact that Facebook isn't supposed to be for old farts like me and my 50-something friends. But guess what, dog? Facebook, I've discovered,  is up to its photo tags with folks my age...

And it's because it is so much fun!  In a matter of minutes, I can -- providing no one "ignores" my friendship request -- connect with old friends and co-workers I haven't talked to for two or three decades! How cool is that? And it's like once they confirm me as a friend, or vice versa, and we've posted comments  and pictures on each others "walls", well...heck schmeck, it's like they're right there in my living room with me!  And it feels as if  we just saw each other yesterday!

It's a virtual friend-in!

Let's face it: for a reunion addict like me, Facebook is  a dream come true!  And to think I used to scoff!

At one point, I had just about my whole ol' gang from my Waterloo Courier/Cedar Falls News Bureau days on Facebook at the same time...Saul, RC, R, A, PK, Raff...

And then there was my old college pal, Anne Kenney (not to be a name dropper, but she is an accomplished and very talented TV writer/executive producer in LA...) We dropped off each other's Christmas card list eons ago...but you would never have known it...

I, of course, asked my  25-year-old niece, Liz, to friend me, and we chatted (OK, I held her hostage) on Facebook till rather late....

"Step away from Facebook, Auntie Ann!" she coaxed, as the clock struck midnight. "And remember, Auntie Ann, do not update your status more than once -- at most, twice -- a day."

Okay, so maybe I was a tad giddy, typing out (what I thought were) witty  "Ann is blah, blah, blah" status updates like they were Morse Code...and yes, I changed my profile pic three times.

But I just could not help myself!  It was like one giant "This Is Your Life Meets Classmates.com" only better!  My gosh!  Imagine what MY teenage and college years might have been like had we had Facebook! And cell phones! And texting! 

Why, I -- and a couple of  guys I dated in high school, I am sure -- shudder to think!

The only bad thing to come of my new obsession with Facebook is that I have, apparently -- after spending six hours perched on the end of my chair,  shoulders hunkered over the computer -- strained muscles in my shoulder, neck and arms to the point where my entire upper torso is stiff and sore. And my tailbone is ready to pop...

A nominal price to pay, however, for reconnecting and reminiscing with all those folks who knew me when...and for  keeping in touch who those I know and love now...like my dear sister, who (hint, hint) has yet to confirm me as her friend....ahem.

Of course, nothing beats seeing my historical/lifelong compadres in real life, in real time. But I gotta tell ya, Facebook is the next best thing to actually being at a reunion.

Ann is way past her prime, er, bedtime but too excited to sleep.

I haven't had this much fun since my CB addiction days...breaker, breaker.  But that's fodder for another blog...

Nite.

THE HOKEY POKEY KING HAS DIED

I received word late last night that one of my childhood TV icons, Uncle Al, died over the weekend.

My Iowanian friends grew up with Duane and Floppy.  Cincinnati kiddies grew up with our beloved Uncle Al...

"Put your toys away, don't delay, then when you want them you can find them right away; Put your toys away, don't delay, help your Mommy have a happy day!"

"You put your right hand in, you take your right hand out; you put your right hand in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around, and that's what it's all about!"

Actually,  truth be known, my favorite part of the show was when Captain Windy (Al's wife, Wanda) would (literally) fly in and entertain the kids. She was my flying mentor, which, I believe, eventually led me to my obsessive yearning to be able to fly, which eventually led me to my childhood love, Peter Pan (which certainly explains many of my later relationships with men, but I digress).

I was never on the show, unlike several of my friends. My mother, I hate to say, was not fond of the man. I never knew why, but she preferred that I watch Captain Kangaroo. Rebel that I have always been, I watched Uncle Al anyway.

"Stop (knock, knock), Refresh with Barq's..."

I just can't believe it -- another piece of our childhood, gone. 

Uncle Al, the Kiddies' Pal. 

"Thank you for the birds that sing, thank you, God, for everything."

Uncle Al was 84.