On Saturday, March 27, 2010, I will be participating in the National Walk for Epilepsy on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Why? Because I was diagnosed with epileptic seizures at the age of 16. I’m lucky enough to be able to control my seizures (which generally occur at night) with daily medication, but not all people with epilepsy are so fortunate.

I have a friend suffering seizures caused as a result of a brain tumor, who is still working to find the right medication for her. I have another friend who has seizures that were triggered by her second pregnancy. Taking medication at all during pregnancy is scary, but not as dangerous as a seizure could be.

Epilepsy — which refers to a number of different seizure disorders — affects lots of people in different ways, and seizure management is a tricky business.

For me, epilepsy means daily medication which I’ve taken since I was first diagnosed (over 20 years ago). The worst thing I have suffered from a seizure is biting my tongue in my sleep. (Although that can be a pretty severe bite.) Learning I would have to take medicine to be ‘normal’ for the rest of my life was a tough thing for a teenager to get used to. But it’s not so bad.

I have been lucky to have pretty great health care, constant coverage via my parents or corporate plans, and access to top-of-the-line research hospitals to be sure I’m getting the right medicine for me. Not everyone is so fortunate. But I like to pay it forward. I contribute to websites that give me free services. And I want to help the research that has helped me. So…

The money I’m helping to raise through the Walk will go towards research for better treatments, to raise awareness and maybe even to find a cure for epilepsy. My hope is that this walk will help bring other families closer to seizure-free daily lives.

Please donate whatever you are able. I know there are many worthy causes asking for donations now, but this one affects someone you know — and maybe some other folks that haven’t had the guts to tell you yet.

Here’s my fundraising page:
Heather’s National Walk for Epilepsy Page

Thank you so much for your support and friendship.

In the days since Haiti’s earthquake, Americans have donated millions of dollars towards relief organizations. I’m always amazed by our generosity as a people. I’m also amazed by the new technology that emerged this time — the text-to-donate operations have been incredibly successful and easy to use. These would have been so helpful in past disasters! If you can spare a few dollars on your next phone bill:

• Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to The Red Cross
• Text YELE to 501501 to donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Fund
• Text HAITI to 20222 to donate $10 to the Clinton Foundation’s Haiti Relief Fund

If you want to donate a more substantial amount, there are a number of organizations already in operation in Haiti. This is, in my mind, the most tragic part of the disaster there. Haiti has needed our help for years. This earthquake kicked them while they were down, in a way.

• The Media Consortium explains how to help: Haiti After the Quake + How to Help
• NPR put together a great list of recommended non-profits here: How to Help.
• Huffington Post’s recommendations are here: How You Can Help

I’ve heard a number of personal recommendations for Partners in Health, so that’s where my extra pennies are going, and there is also the newly-founded Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, led by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Meanwhile, please hope, pray or and think positive thoughts about all those who are missing and out of touch with their loved ones.

It’s the beginning of 2010, and I’ve gotta set my goals! Last year I gave up buying plastic water bottles, and it worked! I recommend it to everyone. We saved lots of money, and got attached to our water bottles and filtering system. It works just fine, and now we’ve got more room in the refrigerator for BEER! ☺

So here are the resolutions:

• More writing: journal every day, on paper. Some stuff didn’t get recorded last year because I didn’t want to share it with the world. So I need to organize my thoughts on paper first.
• More exercise: get in that gym, at least twice a week.
• More travel: including within DC. There are some great exhibits and museums that I need to see. Concerts and shows, too!
• Home improvement: continue to green my lifestyle, purge the junk and organize the good stuff.
• Taco night on Mondays: to simplify menu planning and because we like tacos. ☺

Wish me luck, and I wish you luck with your resolutions… if you’ve made them? If you haven’t yet, I hereby give you til the end of January to come up with some. We’ve got 11 months to go, folks. That’s a lot of time to pick something to improve on or have fun with.

Most importantly,

★  ♪ ♫   Happy New Year! ♪ ♫ ♪ ★

We lost some big names in entertainment this year, I just wanted the chance to say one last goodbye to some of my favorites.

• Actor Patrick Swayze, 57 – I really enjoyed Dirty Dancing and many more of his movies.
• Director John Hughes, 59 – His films were some of the first that I rented from video stores and watched over and over again.
• Actress Farrah Fawcett, 62 – What a courageous documentary she made at the end of her life.
• Actor Dom DeLuise, 75 – Always made me laugh.
• Actor Ricardo Montalban, 88 – I still want to visit Fantasy Island.
• George Michael, sports broadcaster, 70 – I watched his ‘Sports Machine’ show for years in DC.
• Vic Chesnutt, singer/songwriter, 45 – Just an amazing talent.
• Actress Brittany Murphy, 32 – I loved her voice work for King of the Hill.
• Ed McMahon, 86 – I’ll remember him from Star Search, way before American Idol.
• Pitchman Billy Mays, 50 – He could sell me the shoes on my feet, what a guy.
• Walter Cronkite, 92 – Sad to see him go, but that’s the way it is.

There were many more notable deaths, as The New York Times notes in their annual review.

I just found out my hair stylist/colorist is moving from DC to LA. I am a wreck.

Some of you may be able to walk into any old barber shop and be happy with the standard military high-n-tight, but:

• I am a woman, and
• I change my hair color — from pink to purple and other assorted colors — on a regular basis. (They call my type ‘creative color’ I believe.)

The last time I lost my hair stylist, it took me about 18 months to find someone who would work for me, someone who didn’t want to make me look like Dorothy Hamill.

I’m sure some of you ladies out there can sympathize with me, perhaps even some of you stylish men. For me, my hair stylist is a very important and trusted creative partner. This one I followed across town, but I can’t move to California. The previous one I lost in a divorce. (We tried to keep things going after my friend, her ex, moved out, but it was just too awkward.)

Now I must embark on this search again, what a drag! Know a great stylist in DC who is good at creative color? Let me know, ASAP, (in the comments) my hair grows fast!

I have had so much fun writing for you this year, I wanted to get you a little something. It’s not much. Just a couple of podcasts I think you’ll really like. (It’s hard to send anything really big through the Internet.) So here you go, I hope you’ll love them as much as I do.

• The Bugle – a satirical news show featuring John Oliver of the Daily Show with his friend Andy Zaltzman. Andy operates from the U.K., which adds a nice international flair to the weekly podcast. They have me in stitches on a regular basis. I hope you’ll join us. There’s also a blog.
• Risk! – a collection of truth-telling that will make you laugh, snort, gasp and/or cry, depending on the people you know and how you normally spend your time. Kevin Allison, who I know of from The State, is in charge of this operation and narrates the podcast. I became a fan quickly.

That’s it! They are both free (at this time) on iTunes, so download to your heart’s content and donate to the creators if you love them. I hope they make you smile. Happy holidays!

Here are a few cool places to find unique presents, which I’ve dutifully bookmarked over the year. Just in case you’re shopping for someone like me.

• Daytrip Society: for the traveler/nature fiend
• English Retreads: fashionable environmentally conscious bags
• Yogitoes: yoga supplies
• PalmerCash: cool vintage-style T-shirts
• Underground Signs: create your own subway stop
• Survival of the Hippest.com: bling your twitter address
• BigCartel: from the artist direct to you – i.e.,  Sandra Juto or Bakers Dozen
• WWF: Adopt a species and help protect their habitat
• Still stumped? try Neatorama for that weirdo cousin of yours.

And don’t forget these very very important Christmas Cheat Sheets. FABULOUS! From Cookie, an awesome designer.

Thanks to @smashadv at Obsessed With Conformity for the WWF idea.