MY HIATUS

Hi there,
Its been a little while since I had the time to blog. Lots has been going down.

Yesterday was September 11th. I remember quite clearly where I was that day. I was in my office at Instyle talking to a photographer named Troy Word with a cigarette in my hand I think (back then we could smoke in our offices), about our photo shoot set in a few hours later that day at Industria which is downtown. Didn't happen.

Alot of families were torn apart that day gorgeous fall day, and a montrous dark cloud of sadness fell upon New York for years to follow. Today, I saw all the covers on the new stands of the children of 911. Haunting. Whenever there is a threat of being separated from your loved ones or family, hearts become open and appreciation sets in.

I found out in July that my dad has colon cancer. It was a bit of a shock, since my father is a 10th degree black belt and was the sort of the champ of the family. He is the rock and the one always urging all of us to eat healthy, exercise and be happy. He had no signs or symptoms other than fatigue. Since July, he has had a long drawn out surgery to remove the tumor, and we have started an aggressive chemotherapy treatment for the next 6 months. He's doing great...has his good days and bad, but its been an amazing journey to get to know my dad. He is a quiet man, and rarely talks about his family so its been nice to see him so vulnerable and talking about his mother and father, who he was separated at 13 during the Korean war.

Also with this news, a close friend of mine, Angie Zupan, a college friend and also, the friend that made my years so much fun back in the 90's in our wild days in NY... was also diagnosed with cancer. Her father, John, another brilliant inspirational guy died suddenly the same week she was diagnosed in a freak motorcycle accident by a drunk driver. I admired him very much, and have always thought he was the coolest...down to earth, so knowledgeable about life and just like my dad, said that anything is possible if you are motivated.

Its amazing...there's No rhyme or reason on why bad things happen, but they do.

With these factors going on, I realized that life is short. Family is important. I quit my job at Los Angeles Magazine and decided to take this time to really live life and be thankful for my health and avoid drama of any sort... take advantage of life around me. I am going with the flow to see where life takes me. Its a new adventure and hopefully we have a happy ending but if we don't have the ending we want, we must enjoy the ride. That is what I am going to do. Enjoy the ride.