Spring Cleaning

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This is the time of year I go through my garage and closets and sort through the accumulation of the past year. I'm brutal. Things I haven't used or no longer fit are donated to charity. Sometimes I have a garage sale. I'm left with a more streamlined, tidy existence (at least for a while), and maybe a little extra cash.

Cleaning out my head is harder. I have quite an accumulation in there this year. Clearing space for new ideas and finding new ways to approach old issues is always a fight, especially when old mental and emotional baggage takes up so much room and isn't as easy to unload as a pile of clothing or a used mobile phone. We tend to cling to ideas and emotions, not because they're good for us or give us pleasure, but because they're familiar. Familiarity disguises itself as safety. And we’re all afraid of the unknown, whether we admit it or not.

One morning several weeks ago, however, I woke to a dark, pre-dawn bedroom and in a moment of absolute clarity, just as if someone had washed a window into my head and I got a good look in there for the first time in years, I realised that the familiar, so-called "safe" ideas and emotions that I'd been holding onto so desperately weren't all that safe. They weren’t even that familiar any more – I’d been doing the same things over and over out of nothing more than habit. A bad habit to boot.

So this was the weekend for me to break out the yard-sized hefty bags, crank up something loud on iTunes and start clearing out the clutter. As I uncovered old photographs I’d forgotten, jackets that I once loved but no longer wore, shoes with cracked heels that I’d always intended to have repaired, I also found a scrap of optimism that I was sure I’d lost forever. I shook the wrinkles out of a set of sheets for the charity pile and at the same time I shook the mental wrinkles out of my sense of well-being and self worth.

I’m making room for something really good. And it’s about time.

Smart Top Ten

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Ok... I've had Maxwell for over a year, and these past months had given me some insight as to why it's better to have a Smart (as opposed to other cars)

My top ten list (in no particular order):

10) Parking...Yesterday I pulled smoothly into a space a Mini Cooper passed up.

9) Gas mileage... I've had it for over a year, have driven over 10,650 miles, and I just filled the tank for the 30th time. Heh.

8) Great way to meet people... I have found that everyone that comes up to me to ask me about the car is smiling and friendly and some of them have turned into actual friends.

7) Driver courtesy... I know they're probably just doing it so they can get a better look, but other drivers are more likely to let me go ahead of them or will make space for me when I'm changing lanes.

6) Green... Did you know the Smart Car is made of recyclable materials? http://tinyurl.com/smrtgrn

5) Fun... Yes, even after a year, it's still a total blast to drive. The sub-woofer underneath the driver's seat doesn't hurt.

4) Service... The few times I have had to take Maxwell in for service, such as the recent transmission computer software upgrade, the Smart dealer people have been more than courteous, friendly, happy to see me and VERY efficient. They even filled my tires with more eco-friendly nitrogen (http://www.getnitrogen.org), and gave him a bath. They also make excellent coffee. Great company all the way around.

3) Fame... I live in Los Angeles, which means I occasionally run into someone famous. And they usually remark about the car. The most recent was in a Trader Joe's parking lot; Hugh Laurie (of "House" fame) walked by and called Maxwell 'brilliant' and said he hadn't seen one since he was in the UK. Too cool. Plus I've been interviewed for several newspaper articles and TV segments.

2) Economical... I've been able to talk myself into half-price parking because "it's only takes half a space..."

1) Nobody asks me to help them move or be a designated driver any more.

Only five more days...

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This is a very important time of year as thousands of selfless and giving men and women go about the long work in raising money for and then walking in countless AIDS WALKS around the country and the world.

Since 1986, AIDS Walk New York has raised more than $105 million for HIV programs and services in the tri-state area, and has grown into the largest AIDS fundraising event in the world.

Please allow me to introduce you all to my friend, Ian Jopson. He is a source of great inspiration to me, and has dedicated time and tireless effort to this cause -- help me help Ian raise money and awareness for HIV programs in the US and worldwide.

I hope everyone will take a moment to visit his personal website and please send him a donation.

Thank you, Ian, and thanks to all of you! Click this link to visit Ian's personal web page and help him in his effort to support AIDS Walk New York...

http://aidswalknewyork2009.kintera.org/ianjopson